MariChat: Soul Link (Soulmates AU)
by QuirkQuartz
Summary: Invisible links are made between people at birth. The person you are linked to is your soul mate. For miraculous holders however, if a pair of soulmates both possess a miraculous, they are able to use their items to better learn and understand their true love. However, the answers they are given are always cryptic,never giving a straight answer. MariChat,Adrienette,Ladrien,LadyNoir
1. Preview

The world has always been made up of connections. Invisible, flexible, intangible connections between each and every person on the planet. Upon meeting another person, a connection is formed, and can change, evolve, and vary between people over the course of a lifetime.

Everyone is connected in some way, and many pieces go together to create those connections.

You have the yellow link, which is called friendship. People who get along, enjoy one another's company, often having similar interests, and care for one another. This link is valued heavily throughout the world, with people placing value on their friendship links. People often do whatever they can to help someone they have a yellow connection with. As such, it had become a symbol of loyalty.

Another kind of connection is a blue link. These links represent neutrality, mere acquaintances. This is one of the most common links on the planet. Every person knows a thousand other people, and meets a thousand more within their lifetime, but these relationships do not always evolve past this point, remaining forever neutral. It is estimated that a single person has up to five thousand of these links.

An antagonistic link is the crimson link. Crimson like blood, this connection represents hate or anger. Individuals do not always connect well, due to difference of belief, contrasting personalities, a dislike of an action one has taken, or a rough history. These are the links of anger and hate, and are one of the only links that can cause intense negative emotion.

Each person is like a web, with a thousand connections attached to their souls. Sometimes these links remain with a person forever. Sometimes they get severed, never to be reconnected.

There is, however, one link that is established the day a person is born.

The soul link.

In more colonial terms, a soul link is a connection between soulmates. There is only one of these links per person, and are shared by only one other person, and cannot be severed, even beyond death. These links are always connected, can withstand any strain, any pain, any circumstance, and any horrors that may be faced. These links are what makes both halves become whole, and make life worth living for each person. They are sacred, and valued more than life for many individuals.

However, the soul link can be a double edged sword.

While it is true that the soul link is the link that can bring the greatest happiness known, it can also bring the greatest pain known. Not every soul link results in a relationship. Many things can prevent it. External sources. Prejudice. Anger. Jealousy. Fear. Anxiety. A lack of knowledge.

For miraculous holders however, it can sometimes often just be plain complicated for the link to be made clear.

This story focuses on one of the most complicated love affairs between miraculous wielders, Ladybug and Chat Noir. Each and every time in history, both of the wielders of these magical items have been chosen due to their soul link - They are always soul mates. For some couples, however, this can be a far more dangerous prospect than others.

Miraculous holders are placed into a dangerous position, and not always literally. Should these miraculouses be given to a couple who are not soul linked, the results could end up being disastrous, sometimes bordering onto outright hostility.

The Ladybug and Chat Noir of the 21st century set themselves up for more difficulties than needed when they agreed to hide that they were Adrien Agreste and Marinette Dupain Cheng, a match made by the heavens themselves.

Not once before had a Ladybug and Chat Noir duo hidden their identities from one another.

It was setting themselves up for heartache.

* * *

 **So here you have it guys. The concept for Soul Link.**

 **This story shall start coming out once I have ironed out a few more drafts in my planning, and then, you guys will be in for a treat, I think I can be completely honest, I'm looking forward to getting this published ^_^**


	2. The Soul Link?

Another quiet night had passed by the city of Paris. Totally devoid of any and all disturbance, time passed the city peacefully. It was late, reaching roughly 11PM. Streetlamps and the late-hour shops lit up the city, and gave the night time travelers enough light to see where they were going. Even late at night, Paris was a fairly active city, with tourists and teenagers going out and enjoying themselves. A few cars drove on despite the late time, many of them taxi's, with people so eager to get places that they didn't care for the ridiculously expensive cost of the service. Small groups of people cluttered the busier parts of the city, like nightclubs, bars, takeout stores, and various other food and entertainment places.

It wasn't a sight Adrien Agreste was unused to.

The young blond teenager walked along the streets, his hands firmly in his jackets pocket, keeping to the side, so he didn't get in anyone's way. When it looked like he was going to walk into someone, he quickly moved to the other side of the pavement, allowing the other person clear passage. He didn't normally find himself in these sorts of places at night. Doing so was a rarity for him.

He had been unfortunate enough to run out of time before his transformation had worn off, after having pushed his luck with how much longer he had had left. Frantically, he had ducked into an alleyway hidden from sight quickly before anyone noticed him transforming from the famous Chat Noir, superhero, defender of Paris and partner of Ladybug, to the equally famous, yet less impressive all around, Adrien Agreste, handsome model for his father's fashion company. In the darker night time, he was less recognizable, otherwise he would have certainly been approached by someone who knew him.

"Adrien." The teenager heard a voice come from inside his jacket. Poking out from the neck hole in his jacket, was a small, cat like creature. A Kwami, called Plagg, Adrien's partner in becoming Chat Noir. He had met the tiny creature one day after finding his ring, his miraculous, placed on his table randomly, for no reason. The two of them merged, and Adrien became Chat Noir, and begun fighting alongside Ladybug as an applauded hero.

"What is it, Plagg?" Adrien asked, quickly checking around him to make sure nobody was around. They were in the clear, so he could talk to his tiny companion.

"I'm hungry. I need Camembert." While the tiny creature did need the substance to replenish his energy, Plagg often ate merely for pleasure. due to a lack of any sort of activity, Plagg didn't need to regain any energy. He was just a bit hungry. Like he always was.

"Do you ever think about anything other than Camembert?" Adrien sighed in somewhat amused, but mostly annoyed, exasperation.

"I think about Cheddar, and Brie sometimes." The gluttonous, charcoal black Kwami responded, dreamily licking his lips after making himself hungry and wanting a cheese buffet. "Occasionally Mozzarella."

"Of course." Adrien muttered to himself. His Kwami never thought about anything but food. In some ways, Adrien was jealous of his magical partner's one-track-simple-minded personality. "It must be nice to be so carefree, huh Plagg?"

After a quick look at Adrien in confusion, the Kwami caught on. "Oh, I see." The cat Kwami said with a smug smile on his face, levitating out of his masters jacket and just in front of his face. "You're thinking about your rejection by Ladybug again, aren't you? What's that make this, the forty-seventh time in a row?"

"Forty-ninth, actually." The model admitted with a depressed sigh.

It wasn't something he was particularly secretive about, but he did sometimes wonder, did Ladybug actually know, or did she choose to ignore it?

He had a not-so-secret crush on Ladybug. The partner he helped fight crime with alongside. He had been infatuated with her not long after he had met her, completely captivated by her strength, her determination, the confidence she displayed, her cool, calm, collected demeanor, her total dedication too helping protect the innocent people in Paris from an Akuma attacks caused by the villain Hawkmoth. Her stubbornness to do the right thing, and her defiance, and refusal to ever give up, no matter the circumstances, or no matter the odds against her. Underlying all of that, however, was a sweet, kind girl, gentle as any other person on the planet, with a soft side to her. She wasn't just a fighting machine, she was a person underneath all of that. A person who chose to go out of her way to help defend the people of Paris from danger, with no reward to herself. A truly selfless, courageous person.

Not to mention, she was _damn_ cute on top of all that.

She was, in a sense, everything Adrien wanted to be himself. Everything he failed at, she was, so easily, and effortlessly. He had become totally infatuated with her in no time. He had begun to look forward to seeing her every day, and it quickly became the highlight of his day in no time at all. He loved becoming Chat Noir, not only for the freedom it gave him from his home, but for the chance it gave him to see Ladybug, his lady, the girl he had completely devoted himself to. He had dropped as many hints towards his feelings for her every time he saw her roughly equivalent to how many rain drops fell in a thunderstorm.

And she seemed to shoot down Chat every time, never outright rejecting him, but always seeming to make it rather clear she wasn't interested in him. Time and time again he had tried to make his feelings for her as clear as day. He had tried to bluntly confess to her once, but an Akuma attack had prevented him from being able to say what he had wanted to say. Despite that setback, he had made no secret about his feelings for the girl who ran around Paris with him in a red and black polka-dotted jumpsuit, helping to fight Akuma and defend their city, but not once had they seemed to stick with her.

The one downside to loving Ladybug.

She didn't seem to like him back.

Adrien loved Ladybug.

Of that he was absolutely certain. There wasn't a doubt in his mind that he loved her. How he longed to know who she was behind that mask. It didn't matter who she was, what she looked like, or what the relationship between them was in the real world. He loved that girl underneath that mask. He was willing to let her know who he was. He trusted her without question or condition. He had once offered to show her, simply to prove this fact to her. But she wanted their identities to remain a secret, even from one another. She said it would keep them more secure, and while Adrien hated that, he respected her wishes, and to this day, had kept his identity a secret, even from her, and did not pry as to hers. She would tell him when she was ready.

If she _was_ ever ready.

"I'll get you something to eat when we get back home, Plagg. You'll just have to hold on until then." Adrien informed his partner, following the empty streets towards his home. He lived very close to the Eiffel Tower, so it wasn't exactly difficult to remember his way home, despite having never gone this way back to his family mansion before, at last not at the street level. He'd probably made his way home via this route a few times across the rooftops as Chat Noir, but he didn't recognize this specific specific neighborhood. He was thankful that he lived so close to the biggest landmark in all of Paris. It meant he always knew which way home was.

"But that could take _hours_!" The magical creature dramatically cried.

"It'll take us twenty minutes."

"This is your fault." Plagg muttered. "You spend way too much of your time flirting with Ladybug, and not enough time focused on how much time you have left as Chat Noir."

"I'm in love. What do you want from me?"

"I want Camembert!"

"Oh shut it, Plagg. You're like a broken record sometimes." Adrien joked, flicking his magical partner lightly in the forehead. The two of them bickered, but it was never outright hostile. It was just the way the two of them worked. They did care for one another in reality.

"'Oh, Ladybug, my beautiful lady!'" Plagg mimicked, overly dramatically reenacting Chat Noir's previous movements, even down to the finest detail, including his rapidly blinking three times. He added on with a snicker, "'Oh how _purr_ -fect you look tonight, m'lady'. Sound familiar, kid?"

* * *

The two kept on going like this, back and forth, until they reached the Agreste manor. Adrien never used the front door this late at night, as it would be absolute hell on Earth if his father managed to spot him sneaking back into the house this late at night. There would be hell to pay if that happened. Oh, how he would be grounded... Instead, he always, while remaining stuck to the shadows to avoid being seen, he made his way towards his room, and sneaked in through one of the many windows, which he always kept wide open for his return. After clambering inside, he quietly shut the large entry-point, and let out a sigh of relief. Another day, and another transformation which his father didn't notice he had ever left.

"Hahhh... Another night time patrol... Another peaceful night..." Weird. Usually Hawkmoth would have sent out an Akuma by now. It had been maybe three or four days since the last one. Perhaps Hawkmoth was attempting a different strategy. Maybe he was planning something big. Maybe he was just waiting for the right moment. Who knew?

"Adrien. Camembert. Now. I haven't eaten in the last three hours, I'm dying here!" Plagg complained, as Adrien knew he would. Plagg liked to act over dramatically, especially when he was hungry.

"You know where we keep it... Just go grab it. Just make sure nobody sees you." In truth, Adrien was too tired to even go and grab it himself. He just wanted to lay down in bed and lull into a deep, comfortable sleep. Today was Saturday, meaning tomorrow was his one day off throughout the week. He could afford to lay in for one day.

"You got it!"Plagg agreed, and like a bullet, he was gone, shooting through the wall with his power of intangibility, and Adrien suddenly found himself alone in his room once again. Adrien couldn't help but chuckle at the enthusiasm his Kwami showed for eating various kinds of cheese. If only he showed the same sort of enthusiasm for other things, such as actually being Chat Noir, and helping his partner fight against criminal activities. The blond haired, green eyed hero was certain that Plagg would spend all day eating cheese should the option be presented to him.

He lazily and quickly changed into his sleepwear, which were basically a more comfortable, thin white sleeping vest and shorts. He casually tossed his previously worn clothes aside, letting them fall on the floor with total disregard for where they landed. He was too sleepy to take a shower. He'd do that in the morning, he decided. The model in him could wait until the sunrise. Tossing himself onto his king sized bed, he sighed to himself. He often found himself thinking when he was about to fall asleep.

Was there a reason Ladybug didn't like Chat? Was it because of the way he acted? He was the first to admit, in his Chat Noir persona, he was a lot more energetic, and far more wild than his more tamed, shy and reserved Adrien Agreste persona. He was confident as chat, full of confidence, that bordered on arrogance, but never reached that point, as he always knew when he was in over his head and when he needed to fall back to plan a different strategy with his lady.

Was it his constant flirting with her? He hoped it wasn't. It was one of the few, verbal ways in which he could show any affection towards the girl.

Was it his puns? God _forbid_ it was his puns. He absolutely _loved_ his puns.

Maybe... He just wasn't her type.

Maybe... She already liked someone else.

"I guess that's always possible..." Adrien thought sadly to himself. He often forgot that she had her own life outside of being Ladybug. It was easy to forget that. He only ever saw her as Ladybug, as a cute girl behind a mask. Ladybug herself had also confessed she forgot that Chat Noir had a life outside of Chat Noir. When you only see half of someone, it's hard to remind yourself that's only half of who they are.

Adrien didn't like to think about that, but it was always a possibility that Ladybug already loved someone else as her civilian form. Maybe she already had a boyfriend.

Despite that, he refused to simply just give up on Ladybug like that. He really cared about Ladybug. He loved her.

He was certain they were...

 _Soulmates._

No sooner had that word crossed Adrien's mind, than his miraculous, his silver ring, began to glow. This caught Adrien's attention instantly, and he sat upright quickly, staring at the glowing object. The ring emitted a pale green color, becoming brighter, and then dimmer, and then lighter, and then dimmer again. even when held at arms length, the light was very bright for the young teenage wielder, whom had to shield his eyes with his other hand.

"What the?..."

This had never happened before.

"What the hell is happening with this thing?!"

He had no idea what was going on.

Suddenly, there was a bright flash of white light, which temporarily blinded Adrien with it's intensity and sudden occurrence. Adrien hadn't expected it in the slightest, despite the color brightening and dimming. He blinked hard several times, trying to regain his sight. Despite being blinded by the white light, he knew it was only temporary, like turning on a phone on maximum brightness after waking up in the middle of the night, but it had certainly stung his exhausted eyes.

Once he had regained his vision, he found that his miraculous was emitting a straight beam of light, which had hit his wall, like a holographic image, being sent to his ring via some sort of magical messaging system. The symbol in front of him was alchemist in nature, a transmutation circle, which he only recognized due to them being prevalent in a show he watched. The circle, and the symbols inside it, were a bright green color, the same as his eyes were. The circle did not remain stationary, and began to move, with various symbols moving and rearranging themselves. It took the bewildered young man a short time to realize that these were not randomly generated symbols, but rather, they were forming a message, written in basic modern day English.

"What the hell?..." Adrien asked, bewildered for a moment, before reading aloud the message.

It was a poem. He read it aloud.

" _A soul linked, near and afar,_

 _She loves you simply for who you are._

 _Behind a mask her truth may lie,_

 _But other times, she is clear as the sky._

 _You know not her face, only as half,_

 _She knows you, via photograph."_

He raised an eyebrow at this poem in front of him, emitted by his own miraculous. He glanced at the ring, then back at the wall, and then back at the ring again, this time, he tapped it with a finger from his free hand, like he was testing to see if the battery still worked inside a flashlight. Nothing changed, just like he had expected. The poem remained on his wall, clear as the daylight. Quietly, Adrien repeated the message to himself again. "What even is this?..."

"This... Is something I didn't expect to see so soon with you, kid."

Adrien turned his head to his right, and saw his Kwami, with his cheeks stuffed with the expensive cheese substance. His eyes were also focused on the image on the wall, but was far more serious than the creature's normal personality would normally entail. He had arrived so quietly, Adrien hadn't noticed him until he had shown up. "Plagg? You know what this is?"

"It's your miraculous' Soul Link." The creature said, hovering in front of the hologram, seeming to be reading it closer. "This is weird. Normally this doesn't activate until it's been with the wielder for a few years."

"Soul Link?" Adrien repeated with a curious tone to his voice. "Plagg, what are you talking about?"

"Might wanna sit down for this one, kid." Plagg informed his master. "This might come as a bit of a surprise to you."

"Plagg?"

"You know that human concept of a Soul Mate?"

"Yeah?"

"Well... It's accurate."

That had come as a surprise to Adrien, like Plagg had predicted. He looked back at the message on the wall, being emitted from his ring, reading it again and again. "You mean I have a Soul Mate?"

"Everyone does." Plagg said. "It's... Sort of complicated to explain. Basically, for every person you know, you have a connection. Like, let's say Nino." Nino. Adrien's closest friend at school, and probably his closest friend, full stop. "You and him share a friendship link. Now let's use Nathaniel. You know him, but you're not exactly friends with him, but you're not enemies either. You have more of a neutral link with him."

"Okay... So, the Soul Link?..."

"That's... Tricky." Plagg knew the exact circumstances he had found himself in. He had witnessed them thousands of times before throughout the course of history. He knew about the connection the wielders of the cat and ladybug miraculouses held. They were always Soul Mates. That was how it had to be.

Whenever they weren't, it always ended in clashes between the two, bordering into outright hostility.

Plagg wasn't allowed to reveal who Adrien's Soul Mate was. Even if he knew. All he knew was that it was Ladybug, whoever that was. It was against the rules for Plagg, or any Kwami, to tell their master who their Soul Mate was. They had to allow things to happen as they were meant to.

"It's basically a connection that's made from birth." Plagg explained. "Each person has one Soul Link, and that's joined to one other person. It's not really a literal thing. More a connection between souls." That was as basic an explanation as Plagg could give. "For miraculous holders... Your ring will give you hints and glimpses as to who your soul mate is if enough time passes. I haven't seen it activated in a long time, kid."

That wasn't even the tip of the iceberg, and Plagg knew it. But rules were rules. He wouldn't break them.

* * *

Adrien didn't sleep well that night. He had far too many things on his mind. The poem he had seen, that his ring had shown him, had faded not long after Plagg's explanation. the boy had written the poem down, and had studied it, over and over again, remembering it off by heart before the hour has passed. He now laid in bed alone, thinking about each and every line in the poem in detail.

"A soul linked, near and afar,

She loves you simply for who you are.

Behind a mask her truth may lie,

But other times, she is clear as the sky.

You know not her face, only as half,

She knows you, via photograph." He repeated the poem to himself again and again, quietly, just saying it to remind himself of each of the words used in the short message.

There were a lot of questions he wanted the answer to, that Plagg had said he was unable to give.

 _Why did the miraculous give him hints as to who his Soul Mate was?_

 _Did a Soul Link mean that both halves would always become whole?_

The more he thought, the more questions he needed answering, but he knew he wouldn't get them from the Kwami sleeping on his bedside table.

 _She knows you, via photograph_. That didn't do much for Adrien. He was a model. A very famous one at that. Was there any Parisian who didn't know him from his photographs? That had to be one of the most useless parts of the poem.

 _A soul linked, near and afar,_ _She loves you simply for who you are._ That part sounded nice. It really did. It sounded absolutely brilliant to him. It brought a smile to his face and made his heart flutter. It implied that someone out there cared for him beyond his fame and appearance. Someone cared for him past the vanity and the shallowness of the average person.

 _Behind a mask her truth may lie,_ _But other times, she is clear as the sky._ _You know not her face, only as half..._

There wasn't a doubt in Adrien's mind at this point. It was Ladybug. He was certain of it. It had to be. who else did he know that wore a mask, who he only knew half of? There wasn't a doubt in his mind.

 _But at other times, she is clear as the sky..._

"Do I know her outside of Chat Noir?..." He had always suspected as much, or rather, had prayed for as much. A smile suddenly formed from his lips. His lady was someone he knew? Someone he interacted with on a regular basis?...

His heart sunk again when he remembered. He had promised... He had promised her he wouldn't look for her.

But this was the miraculous talking. Surly he could explain?

Or was it even her? Was his soul linked to someone else? It couldn't be, right? He loved Ladybug. This only confirmed it...

"Urrrgh... Why does this have to be so complicated?..." He groaned, covering his eyes with his arms.

Would it be wrong to break his promise to Ladybug?

Would she forgive him if he did?

Would she forgive him if she knew it was him?

Did Soul Links always connect to one another?

Did they always work out?...

Adrien sighed. He knew that These questions may be answered in time... But he wasn't sure if he could wait that long. He rolled over and tried to fall asleep. "Good night, wherever you are, my lady, my soulmate..." He murmured, before allowing himself to fall into the void of darkness and unconsciousness, also known as sleep.

* * *

 **The first two or three chapters are gonna be helping to set the scene a bit more, but I hope you found this enjoyable guys! This is the start of our brand new story, so I hope you're as excited as I am ^_^**

 **I really want you guys to feel invoked in this as well, so what do you guys think? You like it? Be sure to leave any suggestions you may have, and I'll be sure to take it into consideration. I love reading everything you guys suggest, and i may not reply, but I read them all ^_^**

 **If you want more from me, as well as earlier update times, be sure to head over to my Wattpad, GamingEmpire. I interact a lot more over there, because its a lot easier, and You also get the stories half an hour earlier, since FF. net takes 30 minutes to process each chapter.**

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 **Links to everything are in my profile description, as usual.**

 **I hope you enjoyed again, and as always, I'll see you in whatever it is, I do indeed, decide to write next. See ya!**


	3. A Misleading Miraculous?

Sunday proved to be a very mild day over the great French city, neither warm, nor col, not sunny, nor rainy. There were short bursts of sunshine, and equally short bursts of clouds blocking out the suns rays throughout the day, keeping the citizens on their toes, regarding if there was about to be a rainstorm or no at some point throughout the day. Many kept umbrella's with them, just in case.

Marinette stood on her personal balcony, leaning on the railings to prevent her from falling, and watched the street life pass her by for a while, deep in thought. She kept her hand on her cheek, and watched people walking along the streets, cars drive pass the road, people go into her family's bakery to purchase fresh goods and then leave again, sweets in hand. She recognized some of the people she observed. Others she didn't.

She wasn't particularly focused on that though. She was focused on something far weirder that had happened to her last night. Something she hadn't expected in the slightest, and something that still shook her a bit whenever she thought about it.

Some sort of message. According to Tikki, from her own miraculous.

A blinding light, some sort of message on her wall from the light inside her earrings, and a message. a poem. Once Tikki had explained what everything was, Marinette hadn't wasted a single second of her time in writing down the exact poem, word for word, before it faded after a short amount of time. She had read it, over and over again.

"Of golden hair, and green of eyes,

Your heart is where his loyalty lies.

Known far and wide throughout your life,

And conflict come from love and strife,

For of your form, he knows you well,

And for you, shall walk the pits of Hell."

It was quite the romantic image, Marinette thought to herself, with a mild blush on her face, despite not even really knowing who the poem was referring to. She had a very good idea... But part of her had already deemed that as impossible, mostly due to a certain lack in her own confidence. Really, there was only one person she knew with golden, or, more accurately, blonde hair, and green eyes... Well, two, but there was no way in any way it was Chat. That cat didn't even really know her outside of Ladybug, and the message didn't mention her other persona. So that had to mean it was someone who knew her as Marinette...

She blushed, far darker this time. Was it Adrien?

The evidence pointed to him...

"Tikki..." MAainette called for. She was joined shortly by her short, red, with a few black dots, Kwami. "Can you explain to me this 'Soul Link' thing again?"

"Trying to figure out who your Soul Mate is?" Tikki asked cheerfully, landing on the railing next to Marinette's hand.

The blue haired girl nodded. Previously, she hadn't really believed in the concept of a soul mate. She liked the idea, but she liked the idea of people being free to make their own way in life more... But the emergence of that message, and Tikki telling here of a Soul Link... Now she wasn't sure. "I suppose you could say that..."

"Well, the first thing is, a link isn't exactly a literal thing." Tikki explained to her human partner. "It's more an invisible, intangible, bond between souls. It sort of exists, but at the same time, doesn't. Sort of like how you and Alya interact, even if you're far apart. You're still friends, no matter how far away you two get. That's your friendship link with Alya."

"Okay..."

"Well, A Soul Link is a bit different. They're made at birth, and only one is present per person, and that link always matches another's."

"And that person is your Soul Mate?"

"Yes... And no." Tikki explained. "Basically, a Soul Link means you and that person have a very, very strong connection, but it's not uncommon for people who are linked by souls to have other romantic partners, and still live an equally filling and romantic life. What the Soul Link does mean though, is that if people who share one were to enter a relationship, it would be the equivalent of what you humans call 'A match made in heaven.'"

Marinette blinked a few times upon hearing this. "So... Even if, for sake of example, Adrien isn't the person my soul is linked to... There's still a chance for us to be together?"

"Yes. All a Soul Link means is you have a very strong connection. But the majority of Soul Mates usually stay together. They often feel incomplete without their other half with them." The red Kwami hovered next to her partner. "You want your Soul Link to be with Adrien, right?"

A crimson blush erupted on the blunette's face. She knew she was being obvious, so she didn't even bother trying to deny it. "Gold of hair, and green of eyes, Tikki. I only know one person like that. And it doesn't mention anything about me being Ladybug, so it can't be Chat..."

Tikki knew this wasn't exactly true. It was half true... While it was true Marinette and Chat were Soul Mates - They had to be - It also wasn't exactly a lie that Marinette could win over, fall in love, and live and feel the same romantic feelings for Adrien that she would for Chat... If Marinette were to choose Adrien over Chat, and Chat dissapeared, Marinette would feel empty. That was the curse of the Soul Link. while it can withstand any strain, when one side of it is gone, the other half can suffer too. It can withstand the strain... but the emotions of the other half can't always.

 _'If only Adrien and Chat Noir were one in the same'_ , Tikki thought to herself. She sighed. "Soul Links are complicated things. Links in themselves are complicated. Every relationship you have with someone can be altered and changed depending on your relationships with others, and that can restructure your entire web of links."

"Basically who I am friends with can change peoples opinions of me?"

"It's not fair, but that's how it works."

Marinette sighed this time. "As if things weren't complicated enough already..."

The young girl looked out her balcony for a while longer, watching, and thinking about the information she had been given. She wasn't entirely sure she understood the concept of Links quite yet, but the Soul Link was easy enough to understand. Soul Link partners worked well together. They got along. They understood one another. They weren't always romantic, but usually were. For them not to be was a rarity.

And she was convinced... Her Soul Mate was Adrien...

Marinette had had a crush on Adrien Agreste for quite some time now, coming close to about a year. Despite not having gotten along with him at first, she had come to get to know him far better, and had fallen completely in love with him. It wasn't even accurate to call it a crush anymore. She really was just in love with him. And exactly what wasn't there to be in love about with him? He was handsome, yes, that was nice, but there was a lot more to him than just a pretty face... And it was a pretty face. He was a kind, humble and supportive person, despite being rich. He never acted like Chloe, despite having known her before having ever attended public school, and had not become into the kind of person that she was. He easily could have become that sort of person like Chloe, but he never did. He never used his position, wealth or family to get his own way, nor did he try to intimidate other people because of it. He intentionally tried to place himself lower, onto their level, and tried to get to know them that way.

Him being a model definitely helped... She got to see his face nearly all over the city. It hadn't been hard to find images of him that she now had attached to her wall above her computer.

He was kind, selfless, caring, and supportive. He'd go out of his way to help someone, with little to no real benefit to himself. He was smart, talented...

And he _was_ certainly handsome...

Yet another blush found its way onto Marinette's face, and she sighed, this time happily, in her daydreams. She didn't even notice that rain had started falling until a raindrop his her on her cheek, and she felt the difference in temperature from her burning cheek to the cold droplet of water.

Upon noticing, she quickly made her way back inside, nearly tripping over her own door frame in her own rush to get back inside before the rain really started coming down. "I guess going out is sort of out of the question for the moment." She said to herself, sitting down at her desk. She reached for a pencil, and began to randomly sketch down some of her fashion ideas that she had in her head, not really settling on any particular design. After a short artist block, and a while staring at her Agreste-covered wall, she settled on designing a black hoodie that she thought would look great on a certain Parisian model.

No sooner had she finished shading in the right side of the hoodie, than she noticed a pink, rose colored glow on her paper.

Her miraculous again?

She was getting another message?

This time, she covered her eyes, to shield them from the blinding light she had to endure the first time around, an occurrence that did temporarily leave her with the fear that she had been made permanently blind before regaining her sight. She saw the same blinding light sneak through the small gaps int eh fabric of her clothing, but she also had her eyes closed, so it didn't damage her eyes. Once that had dissapeared, she opened her eyes once again, to find a new message on the walls.

"Though kind of heart, and kind of soul,

These actions soon may take their toll.

Unsuspected and put in danger,

By the acts of a unlikely stranger.

Selfless gestures come undone,

Is this a loss, or has he won?"

"That's... Different." Marinette commented. This message gave off a very disturbing presence to her. Like it was a warning of some kind. Like there was something bad about to happen. But there was no way. It was hard enough to accept that these things could tell you who your Soul Mate was... Could they predict...

"Sometimes miraculouses give pointless information." Tikki stated, apparently understanding the thought process Marinette seemed to be having already. "They have to be that way sometimes. They can't outright tell you who your Soul Mate is. that's why I can't tell you, even if I knew. Things have to happen as they should."

Marinette nodded...

But still...

Could a miraculous predict the future? And if they randomly gave out pointless information, like Tikki claimed... That meant she'd never actually know if Adrien was in danger or not.

Just when she thought she'd wrapped her head around this...

"I doubt this is actually a real one." Tikki said with her tiny arms crossed. "Usually you don't get messages this soon after one another."

Though agreeing with her Kwami... It didn't hurt to make sure, did it?

Tomorrow, Adrien had his Chinese lessons, didn't he? After school...

She wanted to make sure that he would be okay.

She reached for her phone and began to text the one person she could trust.

* * *

 **I feel like messing with the characters a bit, and I feel like the Miraculouses sending up fake poems and warnings and other such info every once in a while, could lead to some... Lets say, interesting situations, like you may or may not be seeing next time ^_^ I should point out, the Miraculous don't _technically_ lie... But their messages can certainly be misleading.**

 **I'd like to say a huge thanks to everyone. this story seems to have really been taken to well, So, here's hoping I can keep up the quality you all deserve ^_^ Plenty of ideas from you guys. Don't you worry guys. I'll be certain to take them into consideration. Jealous Chat and Safe Sin already in plotting :3**

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 **And for blogging reasons, you can follow my Tumblr, also GamingEmpire. These guys are heavily involved in suggesting ideas, and I really appreciate and acknowledge anyone who likes or reblogs my posts.**

 **thanks for being here, and I hope you enjoyed,**

 **And I will see you, in whatever it is, i do indeed, decide to write next. See ya!**


	4. A Cat Problem

"Exactly what do you need me for here?"

"In case he spots me, I need to look like I was just walking by. If you're here, it looks more convincing, Alya."

"Girl, I really think you're getting crazier. You might want to look into this whole stalking thing."

"This - This isn't stalking! This is... Watching from afar!"

"No, that's what they call it in movies. In real life, we call that stalking."

Marinette and Alya had been waiting outside the school building for over an hour at this point, simply waiting for Adrien to finish with his regular Chinese lessons. Alya had absolutely no idea why Marinette wanted to do this. She'd known him for well over a year now, and not once had she insisted on basically following him back home. That was fairly creepy to Alya, ever for Marinette at this point. She knew, of course, her friend wasn't planning anything weird. She knew her well enough to know Marinette wasn't like that, but when you get a text on a Sunday evening asking you to stay behind with your bestie to follow and basically spy on her crush the next day... That was certain to raise an eyebrow.

"Remind me again, why are we following him back to his house?" The tanned skinned girl asked her friend, who was peeking around the corner of the wall they were hidden behind.

"It - It's a gut feeling, okay? I get the feeling something bad will happen." Marinette knew that that was a poor lie, but she couldn't think of anything else if she tried. Saying she just wanted to watch him sounded weird, and saying she got a message from a magical device would sound absolutely insane.

She was fully aware of Tikki's warning, that this may turn out to be nothing... But on the very slim chance, as Tikki put it, that it was real... Marinette would never, ever forgive herself if something happened to the blond model, while she had had information about it. She had to make sure that he would be okay. And it wasn't even anything to do with her crush on him. It was that part of her that was Ladybug, that part of her brain that told her this was part of her duty as a hero... The fact is was Adrien was just an added bonus.

Yeah... An added bonus.

"So we're out here, based on your intuition?" Alya questioned with her usual smile and raised eyebrow.

"Yeah." It wasn't the best excuse, but it was all Marinette had. She felt lucky that because she was looking away from Alya, her friend was unable to see the crimson blood blush on her otherwise pale face.

"Wonderful. Second question... Why are we hiding from him exactly?"

Thankfully, the bluenette didn't have to come up with an answer to that question. She saw the doors to the school open, and shot herself behind the wall again, to hide from whoever it was leaving. At this time, it only could be Adrien. When she sneaked a confirming look, she saw she was right.

There he was, waiting as usual, for his ride to show up.

"Okay, so he's here." Whispered Alya to her friend. "What do we do now?"

"We just... Make sure he gets home okay, I guess."

"...I'm not gonna lie girl, this is weird. Are you okay?"

"Hello?" Adrien asked. Marinette froze, fearing she had been caught before she'd even started. She held her breath and felt her heart stop. "Father?" And then it started again. She took in a deep intake of air, and peeked around the corner at the blond, trying to expose as little of herself as possible. She saw that his head was hung somewhat low, with his phone against his hear, indicating he was on a phone call. Occasionally, he would nod. "Uh huh... Okay. I understand, father. Yes, I'll be fine." He then hung up, and placed his phone into his jean pockets, and began to walk down the street, in the total opposite direction.

Adrien walking back home was something that Marinette hadn't seen much of. He usually was given a lift by his family's limousine. In fact, that seemed to be his main method of transport. He arrived at school in it, he usually left in it, and went basically anywhere with it.

Marinette glanced at Alya and nodded. While this wasn't exactly what she had thought she would be doing today, she had promised herself she would make sure Adrien was safe, even at the risk of her looking like a total idiot. She carefully sneaked out of her hiding space, and followed Adrien, leaving about twenty meters between them at a bare minimum. If he saw her, she could either duck behind something, or look like she was walking with Alya, and just happened to have wound up behind their classmate.

Against her better judgement, Alya followed her friend. With another smirk, she jokingly commented, "Seriously Marinette. Stalking. You should go see someone."

* * *

Having followed the blond teenager for roughly fifteen minutes, Marinette really did begin to feel more and more ridiculous as time went on. the good part of that was that nothing seemed to be placing Adrien in immediate danger. He was just making his way home, and seemed to be enjoying himself. He seemed to be rather upbeat about this, for whatever reason. A few times he had turned around, but he hadn't seen either Alya or Marinette, but it was obvious he also had the feeling he was being watched.

While Marinette was certainly glad that he seemed to be okay, she was silently worrying that Alya was going to think she was absolutely insane, but she would just have to make up some sort of excuse later on. She didn't know at this point. the main concern was Adrien's safety.

"Okay girl, we've been following him for a while now. I'm pretty sure your gut feeling was off." Alya commented, a thin layer of sarcasm and mild irritation coating her voice.

Marinette would have agreed in that assessment, had she not kept her eyes on Adrien at that exact moment.

Adrien seemed to come to a sudden halt when passing an alley way, before taking a couple of steps backwards, and peering into it closely. staring deeply into the alleyway, like he was being beckoned to it, he walked down the alley, reemerging a few seconds later, having dragged out what looked to be a large cardboard box out onto the main street.

"What the heck is he doing?" Alya asked, watching just behind Marinette.

The miraculous holder herself had absolutely no idea what he was doing either. She kept her eyes on him firmly, watching each move her made carefully.

Pushing the box to the side carefully, so as not to crush it, Adrien then knelt down next to his recently acquired cardboard. the top of the box was missing, and whatever was inside it seemed to interest Adrien. Her seemed to stare at whatever was in that box for a short while, rather intensely, before he actually reached into the box, scooping up whatever was inside.

A cat.

More specifically, a kitten. A small, grey kitten, that couldn't have been more than a few months old. It was incredibly tiny, maybe about the size of a outstretched palm in length. It was a very malnourished kitten also, very thin compared to other cats. It seemed to be rather aggressive towards the teenager that had just picked it up, and attempted to scratch him, but to no avail. Apparently, it had been de-clawed before it had been abandoned here. It managed to bite one of Adrien's fingers, but it didn't seem to bother him too much.

 _'Though kind of heart and kind of soul, These actions soon may take their toll. Unsuspected and put in danger, By the acts of an unlikely stranger.'_ Marinette could practically hear her brain smashing itself against her skull. Was the miraculous seriously talking about a freaking cat?! A cat?! Why did her miraculous even _tell_ her about this?! What was even dangerous about a cat, especially a de-clawed one? She wasn't sure if her miraculous had just intentionally humiliated her or not. She felt both embarrassment and anger.

"Aww, look at you, you cute little thing." Adrien seemed to coo at the tiny kitten he had found, despite it currently trying to sink its teeth into his skin. Marinette could swear that Adrien's face had melted upon seeing the tiny little feline creature. He stood upright and held the kitten close to his body, like a parent would a newborn baby, and, after shoving the cardboard box back into the alley he had found it with his foot, carried on walking, this time deviating from his way back home, and going deeper into the shopping district.

"So... Your gut feeling... Was telling you about a cat that Adrien found?" Alya asked, with a grin on her face. She was having fun. "You sure that this gut feeling isn't psychic-jealousy? ' _Oh, you cute little thing'_ " She mimicked Adrien's cooing at the cat, lightly patting Marinette on the head. "Marinette, jealous of a kitty cat."

Totally red in the face, Marinette just sighed and accepted her friends teasing. "I, uh..."

"If you want to keep following him, we should move now."

"I... Yeah." Marinette knew she was way too far in with this plan to just bail out now, so, still feeling completely flustered and embarrased, she began following the same pathway Adrien had taken.

This time, Adrien hadn't gone too far. He had found a building on the corner of a street. It looked to be a rather old building, one that had been re-purposed time and time again throughout the course of the colorful history of Paris. It was in a far more secluded area of the shopping district, but was still somewhat busy around. Adrien went inside, taking the small kitten with him.

"Do you recognize this place, Alya?" Marinette asked, looking at the store from a distance. She wasn't really hiding anymore, since she knew that it didn't matter if Adrien saw her now. She also hadn't been in this area of the district often, and rarely paid attention to the stores when she was here, so she had little idea as to what was around here.

"I don't know. But Adrien's in there."

"I know. so?"

"So... go talk to him!"

"Wha - " Marinette stumbled back slightly at the suggestion. "Did you forget we're supposed to be staying hidden here?!"

"Yeah, but that was because you had this weird gut feeling he was gonna be attacked or something, and that turned out wrong, so unless that cat is gonna rapidly age and become a panther, I think we're fine to abandon the whole weird stalker thing."

Technically Alya was right, but Marinette really didn't want to talk to Adrien right now, mostly due to her inability to string together a coherent sentence whenever she was around him. Trying to talk to him was like trying to poke a needle through the leg of an angry spider, not that she had tried that, obviously. "I can't..."

"You need to get over this irrational stuttering of yours." Alya sighed, and took hold of her friends wrist, dragging her to the entrance of the building, despite Marinette trying to break free of her grip. "You'll thank me later. Go get 'im, girl!"

"Alya, wait a secon - " Marinette protested a final time, before she suddenly found herself inside the building.

Thankfully, Adrien, nor anyone else, was actually in the main room she was in, so they didn't see her nearly trip up the second she had been thrown in. The door had a notification system, however, which sent a large buzzing noise throughout the building, to inform the store owners that someone had entered their store.

Marinette froze up, like a deer in the headlight when she heard that noise, and before she had gotten the chance to bail out of the store to avoid having to bail, she was greeted, by none other than Adrien himself. "Marinette?"

A massive blush covered the teenage girls face. She was alone with her crush. "I - Uh - Adrien! He - Hello!" She managed to force out. It only occurred to her right now how absolutely ridiculous she looked. She was there, with her hand on the doorknob to leave, but as soon as she saw Adrien, she shot right up, practically standing at attention. he blush only grew thanks to that.

After shooting her a confused and somewhat shocked look, he asked, "What're you doing here?" She noticed that Adrien was still holding the kitten that he had collected. It seemed far more relaxed with Adrien than it did not long ago. It was now a lot fluffier, and didn't seem to be trying to escape from him, continuously emitting a low purring noise while being held.

"I um - I like - Um, you - You um - You like cats?"

"Hrrm? Yeah, I love cats." Adrien commented. As he did so, he scratched the ears of the grey kitten, which earned another, far louder purr, that even Marinette could hear clearly. "I volunteer here occasionally."

"O-Oh!" Marinette kept stuttering. Her brain started working on overdrive, until she found an excuse she could somewhat work with. "I um- I just was - I was just looking for accessories! For um, you know, cats! To um, draw!" Adrien knew of her love of fashion design, right? She could get away with that.

"...You do realize this is a kitten shelter, right? Not a pet store." Adrien informed her, with an amused smile.

Her mind screamed, ' _Bail_ _!_ ' "No - I - I knew that! No - I mean um, I wanted to um, see what accessories would look good on cats! For um, practice! for - for me to draw the accessories on!" _'_ _Stop embellishing, Marinette!_ _'_ "Eh heh heh..."She scratched the back of her head awkwardly, praying to God Adrien would leave it at that.

Although he gave her another weird look, mostly in confusion, he smiled and nodded at her, understanding her made-up reasoning. "I could show you a few if you want then. Like this lil' guy."

Seeing the little kitten up close, Marinette did think that the feline was rather cute. It had large, green eyes, and was very fluffy and soft to the touch. With Adrien, it seemed to be very affectionate, despite having only known him for maybe fifteen minutes, presumably thanks to Adrien having brought it here to be taken care of. "He is quite cute..." Nowhere near as cute as Adrien was, but still cute. "What's his name?"

"Tino." Adrien replied. "I only found him like, on my way here. He was in a box in an alleyway." Marinette knew all of this, but she let him keep talking. He was holding up the kitten so that she could stroke it easily. "We found the collar underneath his fur, and apparently they put his name on that, and his name is Tino. You wanna hold him?"

"Um, O-Okay" Marinette agreed. Adrien carefully placed the small kitten into Marinette's open arms, while the flustered girl tried her best not to blush at the small distance between them now. Once Adrien pulled away, she was left holding a very light kitten, which let out a very loud purr this time, and seemed to affectionately paw at Marinette's hand. "Wow... He - He doesn't weigh a lot..."

"Well he was starving when I brought him in." Adrien told her, scratching the cats ears again. "It'll take him a while to put on some weight."

Squirming suddenly, the cat seemed to jump up from Marinette's arms, and onto her shoulder, where it proceeded to affectionately again, paw at her face. She knew that the little cat was declawed, so she wasn't worried about the cat scratching her. She let it happen,, laughing lightly as her cheek was tickled by the cats soft paws. "Eh heh. Carefully, kitty."

"He seemed to like you, Marinette." Adrien smiled with a soft laugh to his voice.

Marinette smile again and rubbed her cheek against the kittens. So her miraculous alert had been a false alarm, just like Tikki had suspected. but it did help cement the idea in her head that Adrien was, in fact, the person she shared her Soul Link with. And it had lead her to sharing this moment with Adrien.

It wasn't as as bad as she had thought it would be.

* * *

 **So, a few ideas went into this chapter.**

 **The primary idea was that with the cat shelter. According to MArinette's schedule of Adrien (which is sort of creepy when you think about it) , Adrien does volunteer at a cat shelter occasionally, so I thought, what the hell, and threw that in.**

 **Second, the cat in the story is actually inspired by my best friends cat, also called Tino, which is a previously wild, grey cat, which is the most affectionate and loudest purring animal I have ever seen in my life. He's so tiny and adorable and I freaking love him ^_^**

 **So, there may be a few more chapters like this sprouting up in the story occasionally if I feel like making one of these two look like an idiot. Who knows? I just hope it was fun to read... And that I didn't make Marinette look completely insane.**

 **If you enjoyed this, you should check out my , where I have many stories for you and many fun thins ^_^**

 **My YouTube, TheGamingEmpire, is also a location to be for the funnies, and for the games and animes. We have fun here as I start to lose my freaking mind! : D**

 **My Tumblr, GamingEmpire, is also available for those of you who like to leave suggestions and the likes, as well as interacting a bit more.**

 **Links are in my profile description.**

 **Don't be afraid to point out mistakes, leave ideas, theories, or anything else you guys may have, I know a few of you like to do that sort of thing, so go for it. It always makes me smile to see.**

 **And I will see you in the next chapter of whatever it is I do indeed decide to write next. See ya!**


	5. What Is Shared

A scolding had been expected by Adrien for having the defiance to deviate from his path straight home to take care of an abandoned cat. He'd expected it, for absolute certain, and had also been completely aware that his father wouldn't have had time to do it, so he'd had Nathalie do it for him. Gabriel Agreste, not even the free time to scold his child. Adrien wasn't sure what depressed him more, the fact he was being talked down to for doing the right thing, or that his father couldn't even be bothered to do it himself.

To her credit, Nathalie had made sure it was swift and relatively painless, since she seemed to understand that Adrien was only trying to do the morally correct thing, but had to meet with the compromise of doing her job correctly. It had been more of a telling off than it was a scold, but the message from Adrien's father was clear. _Don't do that again. Return straight home as agreed. There will be very serious consequences if you fail to do so next time this occurs._

All this because he had come home maybe ten minutes later than he normally would have done. While part of that did contribute to him actually taking the cat the the shelter, he could have made that time up by breaking into a light jog. The main reason he had been late was because he had spent some of that time talking to Marinette.

Not that it was her fault, of course. Adrien had been fully aware of the likely repercussions for staying and talking to her. He had decided that, in that exact moment, that he had wanted to, so he didn't begrudge her for that in the slightest. Still, he found it sort of weird that she just happened to be there at the exact time he happened to be there, but he didn't think too much about that fact.

Returning to his room, Adrien sat on his bed and began to thin.

"If it helps, kid, I think you made the right call." Plagg commented to his human partner, exiting the pocket that he inhabited during school hours.

"Thanks, Plagg." Adrien nodded, his gratitude for that simple gesture larger than Plagg knew. right now, however, Adrien was thinking more about the Soul Link. He laid on his bed, and held his right hand in the air, like he was grasping at an invisible object in the sky, just slightly out of his reach. He looked at his ring, watching how the small metallic object reflected the light that hit the surface of it. He had to wonder, would this device give him more hints as to the identity of Ladybug? Would it tell him more about her? About the Soul Link they shared? "What secrets are you keeping from me?..."

"Kid?"

"Hrrm? Oh, nothing, Plagg. Just thinking is all. Hey, d'you know if Ladybug's miraculous will be sending her messages as well?"

"It's possible. It depends if her miraculous has been with her long enough. Yours activated abnormally quickly, so I wouldn't put my money on it.""

"Right..." Adrien said quietly, still staring at the magical object around his ring finger. _'So, if I told her about the Soul Links, she'd probably think I was flirting with her again... What cruel irony. I flirt with her, that even if I try and tell her about this, she'll just think I'm flirting again.'_

He sighed. Talk about karma.

How would he even go about explaining a Soul Link to his lady? The miraculouses tell you who your soulmate is via magic and project messages onto a wall? That's right up there with screaming 'Ancient Egyptian laser beams', and expecting to be taken seriously. So, really, what else was there for Adrien to do, other than keep on keeping on as he normally would have done? there was no need to concern Ladybug with such matters.

He spent the rest of the day on Alya's Ladyblog, trying to gather his thoughts.

Even if he was convinced they were soulmates, he wouldn't push her towards anything.

* * *

That night, Adrien had been somewhat anxious, but equal parts looking forward to going out on patrol with Ladybug. Though he had decided he wasn't going to bring up anything to do with the Soul Link, the miraculouses, Soul Mates or anything like that, just knowing that he could be patrolling with his soulmate filled him with a certain joy and excitement of simply seeing her again.

He had transformed at the usual time he did for their nightly patrols, and had exited the Agreste estate as Chat Noir, the destruction and bad-luck hero, defender of Paris, and the true side of Adrien's personality - Slightly cocky, confident, wild, and immensely flirtatious, particularly to Ladybug. Behind a mask, no one knew it was him, and he could act however he wanted without consequence. He could let his real side shine.

He leaped up high over the buildings of Paris, taking a second, while still in the middle of the air, to admire the lit up city. Thousands of tiny lights, all coming from streetlamps, bedroom and shop windows, cars and other various sources, all combining to create a beautiful contrasting landscape of brown, black, grey and light. He saw it nearly every single night, but it never failed to captivate the young hero. Readjusting himself as he fell, he swung from one rooftop to another, on his way to the usual meetup point with his lady. He moved with Olympian-like grace.

The point they had agreed to meet at this day was at the Avenue des Champs-Élysées, a well known boulevard of the city, near the Arc de Triomphe. It hadn't taken Chat too long to get there, with his wild speed and athletic ability. Leaping over the rooftops, covered by the night, he had made his way to the meeting point. And to Ladybug.

"M'lady." Chat greeted, taking a small bow while walking over to his partner in fighting crime.

Ladybug turned with a bit of a start, but quickly relaxed when she realized it was Chat. "Oh, Chat. It's you."

"Who were you expecting?"

"Not too sure. An Akuma. You know, someone easier than you to deal with." Sass was preventative in her voice. She made sure of that, so Chat knew she was only joking with him.

"Me- _ouch_ , my lady. That was absolutely merciless." The black cat hero commented with his usual grin, before he crouched down on the side of the building next to his partner, his crush, and, he prayed, his soulmate.

"You look like you're in a good mood today, Kitty." Ladybug commented, prodding him on his shoulder, causing him to threaten to lose balance for half a second. "Something good happen to you today?"

"You could say that." ' _If by today you mean yesterday, and by something you mean absolutely unbelievable, then yes!'_

"See anything on your way here?"

"Nope. Everything's clear. Again."

"Weird." Ladybug said, biting her finger lightly, muttering to herself. "It's not like Hawkmoth to wait this long before sending out an Akuma. What's he doing?"

"Maybe he _Hawked_ off." Chat suggested, making sure to add a pun into his sentence for extra measure. All this earned him was a groan from Ladybug. "Hey, I'm not complaining. It gives us time to _Chat_."

"Please stop."

"But I'm having a _Bug_ time!"

"That was was a bit of a stretch."

"My Lady!"

"I've heard you do better, Chat."

Chat Noir could only chuckle, but it was a more bitter one than he would have liked. Not out of any sort of anger with Ladybug, but repression at the knowledge of the miraculouses of which he couldn't tell her about.

The two made their patrol, in their usual time, and very few words were exchanged by them, both focused on looking for any situations that the streets and alleys and darkness may be hiding. chat with his night vision was the more keen observer of the two thanks to this particular trait of his transformation, but they found absolutely nothing or worthwhile note. No Akuma. No crime. No trespassing, no harassment, no nothing that would call upon the duo of Paris to come to the aid of their city's fair civilians.

Perhaps they _were_ having a serious affect on crime rates in the ancient city.

Once the two had completed their usual laps around the city, meeting back at the same spot they had originally met in for the night, the two prepared to part ways. Chat was tired after such an extensive patrol, and the clouds had burst out with rain shortly after they had begun their rounds, leaving both heroes soaked and sleepy.

"Hey, Chat, can I ask you something?" Ladybug called for him, before he managed to escape her sight.

Chat Noir spun on his heel to face the red and black polka dotted heroine before him. With a grand bow once again, he responded, "Go ahead, m'lady. I'm all ears."

"Has your miraculous been acting up?"

"Acting up?..." Chat was suddenly in serious mode now. Hers had been acting up?... _Was it?_... "...You mean the Soul Link?"

"You've been getting it too?" Ladybug's eyes shot wide open. She was as surprised as the male hero was.

"Yeah! I wasn't gonna bring it up, cause, well, I didn't think you'd take me seriously, m'lady."

"If it were anyone else, Kitty, I wouldn't have, but... Seeing is believing, I guess."

The usual toothy smirk appeared on Chat's face. Ladybug had been getting the messages too! could that mean that she knew about their Soul Link?Was that was this was about?

"So... Who's my competition?" He asked, with a fairly confident tone in his voice. He was absolutely convinced.

"Someone I know... He's..." _' Me?'_ "This really handsome guy I know from my school."

Noticing Ladybug's blush against her red outfit wasn't an easy task.

The fact Chat Noir was able to see a difference in the color of the reds was a statement in itself.

He stared at her.

Shattered.

Deflated.

Shocked.

Disbelieving.

 _Broken_ , by just a few words.

It wasn't him?

He and Ladybug... Didn't share a Soul Link?

The male hero turned away from Ladybug, looking out from across the street, his jaw agape so much, he had to actually use his hand to stop it from falling down onto the road, his eyes wide, and his stomach feeling sick. His breathing increased. He was in shock. The message, the poem, the miraculous... It had been wrong? He had been wrong?

Then again... Of course he was wrong.

"Chat?" Ladybug asked, sounding seriously concerned. Throughout their act as a duo, Ladybug had suspected that Chat had a crush on her. He hadn't been subtle about it, but there was a filter she had set up that convinced her he was doing it all for show, that it was just a quirk he seemed to have, something he did to pass the time, or to spark a conversation. She hadn't really thought he might have been serious. Well she had... But she hadn't prepared for rejecting him. It just sort of happened. And she hadn't expected this response. She hadn't really expected... Any form of emotion besides pure cocky childishness from the cat hero.

"Well..." Chat said, forcing a smile, and giving her a thumbs up. "...He's a lucky guy."

"Chat?" This time, her voice was of confusion.

"Sorry, LB, was just a little shocked that you already knew was all." Chat lied. "My miraculous gave me the messages, but I still haven't figured out who mine is yet. You already know your Soul Mate. That's impressive."

"You're not... Upset?"

"I'm only gonna be upset if your boyfriend starts treating m'lady poorly." Chat said, with a tease to his voice. "Call me if he gives you a hard time. I can... Have a talk with him."

The offer was a horrific image for Ladybug to imagine, but she understood what Chat was trying to say. He wasn't saying he was going to find Adrien and beat him up. He was just displaying a kind act of friendship, and eagerness to help. "You're kind to offer."

"Hey, you're not just my partner, 'lady." Chat smiled, albeit forced. "You're my friend as well. If you're my friend, you've got my loyalty, and when you have that, there isn't anything I won't do. I can even tone down the flirting if it makes you uncomfortable." An offer he never could have imagined himself making. The fact he was offering it right now scared him.

 _Had he just given up like that?..._

 _Without a fight?..._

This offer, however, earned him a tight, warm hug from the girl who had just unknowingly crushed his very heart and soul into dust. He weakly returned it, determined not to show weakness in front of her. "I couldn't ask for a better partner, Chat."

* * *

He had lost.

He had been wrong.

He and Ladybug didn't share a Soul Link.

Adrien laid on his bed, staring at the ceiling, for God knows how long. An hour? Two? Five? He didn't even know, nor did he care. His mind was empty. His stomach was empty. His heart was broken, shattered into ten thousand fragments that would never heal.

He couldn't believe it.

He had been so sure...

 _Behind a mask her truth may lie._ He had been so _certain_ of it.

And he had never been so wrong before in his life, apparently.

"What the hell..." Adrien said, almost silently to the darkness. He looked at his ring, still shining on his finger. "Did you lie to me... Did you raise my hopes... Only to crush me?... Or is this all a joke?... Heh... I'm talking to a ring..."

But then again... What was he expecting?

Ladybug was like a women sent straight from the Gods. Calm. Collected. Determined. Beautiful. Just. Cute. She always knew what to do. She always knew what to say. She was brave. she was fearless.

Everything Adiren wasn't.

What had he expected?

Who could love him? _Just a stray cat... No different to the one he had saved today. Tossed aside, unloved._

Who _could_ love him?

Unable to hold it back anymore, Adrien, despite having his teeth gritted harder than ever before in his life, felt steams of hot tears pour from his eyes. The emotion, the broken heart, the pain and sorrow of rejection, albeit indirect, but massively implied...

The crush he had held for so long... Already loved someone else.

Like he had feared.

"...I must be going crazy..." Adrien finished his sentence, before he broke down into straight-up sobbing, silently into a pillow he clutched to damped the sounds of his cries. "What the hell's wrong with me?... " Talking to a ring. He must be insane. He managed to force a sad chuckle at his own sentence. It didn't last long. "Damn it... Damn it!..."

* * *

 **Poor Adrien ;-;**

 **With this chapter, I felt that I needed to add a bit more of a sorrow element to the story to make it feel more real. I have a plan or three now, thanks to awesome suggestions fro you guys, which I really appreciate beyond your comprehension. Soul Link is going on in full force now boys, and you don't wanna miss this ride!**

 **For more from me, you should definitely follow my Wattpad, GamingEmpire. You get earlier updates by 30 minutes, and I get to chat with you more ^_^**

 **For the funnies and videos, you should check out my YouTube, TheGamingEmpire. Lots of fun things and games are happening now, including No Man's Sky and Pokemon : D**

 **And for those of you who use Tumblr, you should follow me at GamingEmpire, for blogs and rants and basically everything else you'd expect from someone like me.**

 **Other than that, I do hope you enjoyed, and that you're liking the story so far. ^_^ Be sure to follow the story and me for more works, and let me know what you thought,**

 **And I'll be seeing you in whatever it is i do indeed decide to write next. See ya!**


	6. How To Help

Marinette woke up the next morning in a unusually good mood. She woke up like the whole world was as it was supposed to be, and she just couldn't explain why. She was just in a good mood. Climbing out of her bed, she stretched, and made her way to look over the city of Paris, the European city of love, from her balcony. It was a atypically sunny day for this time of year, and people we're already starting to filter out to their various districts, be those work, school, or otherwise.

She felt a cool gust of wind strike her face gently, running through her hair. The pleasant breeze felt good against her skin, helping her to wake up from her slightly groggy state. She took a long inhale though her nose, and let it all out in a nice, long sigh out the mouth.

Perhaps it was because she had finally had that talk with Chat the previous day.

It had been a talk she had really needed to have with her fellow miraculous wielder for the best part of a year now, but simply hadn't been able to bring herself to be able to. She needed to let Chat know her honest feelings about him - She just wasn't interested in him romantically. He wasn't a bad guy at all, not to get her wrong at all. He was a great guy. But... He wasn't her soulmate. The miraculous itself had told her so.

The fact the miraculouses had been giving out weird messages indicating whom their wearer was linked to had given her the perfect gateway to tell Chat what she felt. Despite being able to, and having the perfect excuse to bring up the conversation, she had been anxious to.

So it had been a massive relief to hear from Chat that he accepted her feelings. He had been happy for her, and offered his support. He was her friend. He was her partner. The best she could have asked for.

Perhaps if Adrien wasn't around, she might have given him a chance.

Although she had to admit, she was curious as to who his soul was linked to. but learning who that was could put his secrecy at risk, so she wouldn't pry. And besides, he said he didn't know anyway, so what would be the point. She hadn't mentioned her soulmate was Adrien Agreste for the same reason.

At least, she was confident he was.

The more things that happened, the more she became convinced that they were soulmates.

A warm smile made it's way onto her face as she thought about this. If they were... There wouldn't be enough words to describe how happy she would be. There really wouldn't. If she could only muster up the courage to even speak to the blond boy-of-her-dreams, she might be able to move things along. It was rather ironic when she thought about it. She was Ladybug one moment, the hero of Paris, confident and collected, never missing a trick, and unstoppable once she started going, and then the next, she was the clumsy, human train-wreck Marinette, who could barely remember to use her basic brain functions when in front of the boy she had liked for nearly a year now.

Remembering that today was still indeed a school day, she made her way back inside her bedroom, and began to change into her school clothes. Tikki was still sleeping, an unusual rarity for the usually energetic and friendly Kwami. Perhaps she was overworked? Either way, Marinette decided she would put Tikki in her bag so that she could sleep for longer.

Or she would have done if she wasn't blinded by her own miraculous once again. She was going to have to start wearing sunglasses inside if this kept up. Another message? Was this one serious, or was it a false alarm? Peeking with one eye, Marinette stole a glance at the text on her wall.

"Broken soul and optimism broken,

Feelings frozen, and rudely awoken.

The day goes by, filled with pain,

Feeling nothing, he's emotionally drained.

Your love is broken, soul and mind,

Needing something, to turn the tide. "

"Adrien..." Marinette stared at this poem, half dressed, and her hands above her chest, feeling it hurt in empathy as she read it. What had happened to him?... What had hurt him so badly?..

The blunette knew that a miraculous could give you false information, or rather, misleading information. What she also knew now, thanks to that particular experience she had forced herself through, was that a miraculous technically never lied.

Meaning Adrien was, indeed, hurting right now.

Each words was nothing but another bullet of sadness that pierced Marinette's previously happy heart.

She needed to know what happened to Adrien. Was he okay? Did he need some help with something? Was he just having a bad day?

Or had something horrendous happened to him?

* * *

Death.

That was a good way to describe how Adrien was feeling right now. He felt like death.

He felt like this the moment he got up. He felt like this when he got dressed. He felt like this while he stared at his breakfast, absolutely uninterested in eating or drinking anything whatsoever.

What was the point?

He felt like death on his ride to school. He didn't even really want to go today, but if he skipped for a reason as trivial as he didn't want to go, his father would probably use that as an excuse to pull him out of the public education system. He was dreading the day he was looking at, but Adrien knew that he couldn't give up what he had worked so hard for for the past year because of one day.

"Urgh..." Adrien groaned to himself, looking as the city passed him by in the back of his ride, gorilla driving him to school as was traditional and customary. He hadn't slept for long. Maybe fifty minutes? He had been crying all damn night, and felt utterly pathetic for doing so.

Ladybug... Wasn't his soul mate.

He couldn't hate her for that. He couldn't hold it against her. The Soul Link... It just hadn't been between them, he concluded. That wasn't her fault. It was just... The way things were.

She liked someone else... Someone worthwhile.

That was just how things were.

"Kid, don't beat yourself up about it." Adrien heard Plagg's voice from inside his shirt. Usually the Kwami wouldn't risk being heard by Gorilla, but it was clear he could see just how absolutely devastated Adrien was. the blond teenage took out his phone and held it in his hand, so on the off chance gorilla looked at him, the well-built chauffeur would conclude he was speaking to someone on his phone. "It's not like you could have done anything about it."

"That doesn't make it any easier to hear, Plagg." Adrien sadly stated

Plagg cared about Adrien. He was lying if he said he didn't. And he felt terrible that he had to hide the facts from Adrien. Ladybug _was_ his soul mate. That was how the miraculouses were designed. They had to be soul mates. Whatever it was, Ladybug was the one who was uncertain. The one who had screwed up. Adrien had been correct in assuming Ladybug was the person whom he shared a Soul Link with.

Ladybug hadn't.

She really had screwed this whole situation up.

What could Plagg say? What could he tell Adrien to make him feel better? What could he say without breaking the rules? "Your... Your soul mate is still out there, you know."

"So?..."

"So... Doesn't that mean you get the same experience of falling in love over again?" Not entirely a lie... Perhaps they would meet in their civilian identities? That was all the small cat-like Kwami could think of.

"That's not how it works, Plagg." Adrien sighed, looking out his window. He didn't think that he'd be able to get over Ladybug. The most perfect woman on this Earth. The most perfect woman in this entire Universe. "...But thanks for trying to make me feel better.

* * *

Three classes in, and Marinette was worried sick.

Adrien hadn't been himself all day. And considering that he was normally fairly quiet, yet rather sociable when comfortable, that was saying something. He didn't even seem to have the energy or motivation to be shy, something Marinette wasn't sure was even possible. He had barely even moved his pencil all day, and she swore at times he had just fallen asleep. Judging from the worried glanced Nino gave his best friend, her suspicious were correctly placed.

Something was definitely wrong.

But what could she do?

She obviously knew something was wrong, thanks to her miraculous telling her that something was wrong, but she couldn't tell Adrien that. He'd think she was a total lunatic. She could hardly even speak to the guy without becoming a nervous, stuttering wreck, so what the heck could she even say to him now?

She couldn't say anything, and that knowledge that she was unable to help him, the person she cared so deeply for, angered and upset her to the point she was almost convinced she herself would become a target for Akumatization.

"Marinette, are you okay?" the thoughtful girl heard Alya call her, and nudge her with her elbow. she had apparently been in such deep thought, Alya had been able to notice her.

"Oh. Yeah, Alya?"

"You okay girl? You've been staring into space for like the past, ten minutes."

"I'm... Have you noticed Adrien's acting sort of weird?"

"Have I noticed the socially awkward love of your life is acting strange after you basically stalked him for a poorly explained reason into an animal shelter?" Alya raised an eyebrow with a smug smile, satisfied with Msrinette's blush. "He seems sort of distracted I guess, but isn't he normally most days?"

"But normally he gets his work done. He's barely even moved his pencil today."

"You've been watching him close enough to tell that? Girl. Stalker. Seriously."

"Stop calling me that!"

Alya smirked once more. "Seriously, if you're that bothered about it, go talk to him. He doesn't bite."

"You know I can't talk to him without becoming a wreck..." Marinette said with a light blush.

In that moment, an idea came into her head.

Marinette couldn't talk to Adrien. She was a socially awkward mess of a person, much like the person she wanted to speak to, only to a far worse degree. She couldn't even get a sentence out right.

But Ladybug could.

* * *

 **Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! Sorry this is up so late. I've had to stay up extra late to make sure this chapter got uploaded. I swear I'll make sure the next chapter is up at a better time tomorrow! Urgh...**

 **I got a comment from someone saying they wanted me to put more focus on Marinette, and that's a good point. Adrien/Chat is by far my favorite character in the entire franchise, so I guess I subconsciously focus on him more. and we aren't even at the MariChat part of the story. Gee, this is gonna be a long one. I promise we're getting there. Give it a few more chapters...**

 **Still, I hope you enjoyed this chapter!**

 **If you did, be sure to follow my Wattpad, GamingEmpire, where you can get stories a full half hour earlier, and get more interactivity from me.**

 **Be sure to follow my YouTube, TheGamingEmpire, for the funnies and games. We have fun there. Or I do. It's nice!**

 **Also follow my Tumblr, GamingEmpire, for blogs and posts and fun stuff!**

 **And Ill see you in whatever it is, I do indeed, decide to write next. See ya!**


	7. Moving With Pain

Schools end couldn't have come around slower for Adrien. It was like he was being marched on a forced trek throughout hell itself. He hadn't even written anything in his notes for the day. Instead, there was just a long, charcoal black line in his notepad where he had run his pencil on paper back and forth all day. It was the first day in his life that he really detested actually being in a public school. He didn't want to be around people right now...

He didn't even want to be around himself at this point.

Once the final bell rang for the day, Adrien was out the door within seconds, relishing the breath of fresh air, and the fact that time started moving again for him. The fact that his lift home was right there had never made him happier in his life. After a brief goodbye to Nino, along with assuring him that, really, he is okay, Adrien bailed into the back of the large, black car, and was whisked away home again. Never before had he wanted to be surrounded by the walls of his prison of a bedroom so badly. He practically fell asleep in the car the second he sat down in it, exhausted from the previous night.

Arriving back home, he went straight to his room, and fell flat on his bed within nanoseconds. This was all he wanted right now. To just lay here. Let the rest of the world pass him by.

He didn't normally feel self pity like this. He wasn't a self absorbed person, in spite of being a model, arguably one of the jobs in the world that would make you self obsessed the most. But this wasn't out of vanity or narcissism. This was disappointment. Loneliness. Sadness.

"God, what am I doing?..." Adrien asked himself, rhetorically. Why was he even doing this to himself? Why was he even thinking this way? What good would it do him?

"Good question, kid." Plagg spoke up, hovering above the young teenager. "You remember that you still have to patrol with Ladybug tonight, right? Are you gonna be like this around her?"

"Oh God... I'd forgotten about that. Thanks, Plagg." Adrien moaned sarcastically, covering his face with his arms. Christ, now he had to force himself to be his usual happy-go-lucky, cheerful and energetic Chat Noir persona? This was already sounding painful to him. "I can't go on patrol like this as Chat Noir... Ladybug would immediately know what's wrong with me... Urgh..."

"Come on, Adrien." Plagg urged, trying to motivate his human master in any way he could. "It's not all bad."

"How would you know?" There wasn't even anger in Adrien's voice. Not anger. Not bitterness. Not sarcasm. His voice was basically void of emotion. There was only sadness and a hint of jealousy in the brokenhearted boys words. "The only thing you've ever loved is cheese..."

Plagg sorrowfully knew there wasn't anything he could say that was going to motivate Adrien. He didn't know a thing about romance. He was a Kwami. Kwami weren't commonly known for their understanding of human emotions. One of the exceptions was Tikki, and she was with Ladybug, so that didn't help matters at all.

That was until he looked out a window.

"Uh... Kid? You might wanna look at this."

"If it's a shipment of cheese, just go get some. I honestly don't care right now."

"No, it really isn't. I'm serious, you might want to check the window." Plagg told the depressed human, shooting back from the window so as not to be seen.

Adrien had absolutely no intentions of going to his window. Whatever it was, he couldn't care less for it.

That was, until he heard a tapping on the glass.

Of all the people in the world, it had to be the one person who had stamped his very soul into dust.

"Ladybug?" Adrien spoke automatically as he saw her. She almost resembled how Chat Noir might hand from a window when knocking on one. After giving him a short and friendly wave alongside that damned perfect smile, she made a sort of gesture with her free hand, indicating for him to open the window.

"Of all the people..." Adrien quietly said to himself. A big part of him really did want to just shut the curtains and plug his ears closed, but if Ladybug was insistent on seeing Adrien Agreste, she was going to see him. She was stubborn like that. Reluctantly, the blond model got up from his bed and made his way to the windows, and opened the one next to the superhero of Paris.

Seeing her here was the last thing he needed. What could she want? Why was she here?

"Hello." Was all Adrien had to say, before he backed away from the window, allowing the slender female to climb into his room. He wasn't particularly softly spoken, but he wasn't harshly spoken towards her either. He didn't even sound surprised that she was here, a fact that surprised himself.

"Hello..." Ladybug spoke to him softly and gently, like she could already tell he was hurting. She seemed to show concern for the teenager, more so than she did for the average citizen of Paris. "I... Heard you were having a rough time."

"I'm doing fine, M - " He quickly paused. "- Ladybug. Who told you I wasn't having a good day?"

"A girl from your class told me. Someone called Marinette."

"Marinette?" Adrien raised an eyebrow in suspicion and surprise.

"Don't be upset with her, please." Ladybug spoke defensively, like she was a child trying to defend her friend. "She just mentioned to me that she said you looked down, and wanted to know if you were okay. I offered to check up on your for her and well... Here I am."

How would Marinette have known he wasn't doing... Well, actually, now that he thought about it, Marinette sat right behind him in class, didn't she? She'd have been able to watch him all day if she'd wanted to. She must have noticed his lack of energy, or how little he'd taken notes or... Something.

But this had to be the worst solution to help him he could have possible imagined. It was like trying to cheer up a child who lost their parents to a fire by giving them a sparkler - Entirely the wrong thing.

He was grateful to her for her attempts... But this was the worst thing she could have come up with...

Hold on a second...

"You know Marinette?" Adrien asked, his eyebrow once again raised in curiosity.

Ladybug seemed to stiffen up, just for a second, in that moment. Adrien wasn't particularly aware of how many friend's Marinette had. she was basically on friendly terms with everyone in their school, bar Chloe. Did this mean that Ladybug went to his school after all?...

"I um, I've run into her a few times! She - She did some designs for me!"

 _So much for that idea, Adrien thought._ What designs, though? He'd never heard anything about Ladybug wanting designs. Was she updating her costume or something? When the heck had this happened? Then again, if there was one person he trusted with designs, it would probably be her.

"I see..." He was really trying to not seem to down around Ladybug, but he just couldn't do it. Here was the person responsible for making him like this, depressed beyond depression, trying to make sure he was okay. He didn't begrudge Ladybug a thing... but that didn't make it easier to be around her. "Look, I'm fine. Could you - Could you please leave now?" If she stayed her for much longer, Adrien was going to break down.

"You haven't told me what's wrong though..."

"...I'd rather not talk about it."

Hurt, but wanting to respect his feelings, Ladybug sighed, defeated. "Okay... But... You know you can talk to me, don't you?"

 _'I wish I could, my lady... I really do. but I can't. Not without hurting myself.'_ Adrien thought to himself with a heavy heart. He was facing away from the girl he was in love with, trying not to break into tears. "I know. Thank you."

Ladybug turned around to leave, before looking back at the model in front of her. A big part of her wanted to hug him right now, to tell him whatever was happening, it would all be okay. that she would help him sort it all out. that she'd be there to help him no matter what happened.

But she still, even as Ladybug, didn't have the courage.

"Take care of yourself, okay?" She said, softly and kindly, that sweet, caring side that Ladybug only let show to those she truly cared about, those two being Chat Noir and Adrien, before she used her yo-yo to swing out of the room.

Adrien was left alone in his room once again. He found himself mad all of a sudden. At himself. "What the hell is wrong with you, Agreste?... She was just trying to help..."

 _'She's the one who put you into this mess in the first place'_ His mind argued back.

"It's not like she knew I'm Chat Noir!..."

 _'So what? She still did this to you. That's her fault.'_

"I can't blame her for having a different soul mate. It's not like either of us had a choice in the matter..." Adrien weakly said, before sitting back on his bed, quietly.

Marinette sent her? How had she even managed to do that?... Now that he thought about it, how had Marinette managed to even get hold of Ladybug? How long had she known her for?

He found his mind lingering on the awkward girl he had known for a year now. She certainly was a curious case.

Marinette sighed, troubled. That was an understatement. She had really thought, really, really thought, that speaking to Adrien as Ladybug would work. She couldn't think why it wouldn't. And now she really was stumped. She had no idea what to do to help Adrien. What could she do to help? The hero of Paris couldn't help, what was this klutz going to be able to do?

"I don't suppose that miraculouses tell you how to help your soul mate, do they Tikki?" Marinette asked her Kwami, tapping her desk with her finger, trying to come up with something, anything that she could to try and help Adrien.

"Unfortunately not. Things have to happen as they should." Tikki said, equally as exasperated as her human partner was.

"I thought that I wasn't that lucky." Groaned the blunette girl, leaning back in her chair. She took a long, hard look at her hand. "These powers of good luck don't seem to be working a lot these days."

Silence fell between the two of them as Marinette thought about everything. She hoped she had at least helped Adrien a little bit as Ladybug...

Even just a little bit...

She sighed.

It was the first night in quite a while in which neither hero of Paris went out to patrol that night. Their minds occupied, a certain occurrence had sparked off a chain of events that would lead them to collide.

That occurrence was called curiosity. And it manifested itself in Adrien Agreste.

* * *

 **This was reeeeally tricky to write. Really tricky.**

 **This is the chapter though, where things start to get rather interesting.**

 **There's not really a lot I can say that won't give the story away in some way... So just be prepared for it ^_^**

 **Either way, I hope you enjoyed!**

 **If you did, be sure to follow my Wattpad, GamingEmpire, for stories up a full half an hour earlier, more interactivity, and fun independent stories of my own creation!**

 **Be sure to follow my YouTube, TheGamingEmpire also for the funnies and the animes and the games and the funs!**

 **you can also follow my Tumblr, GamingEmpire to see what makes me tick as a writer, as well as ideas I'm having. you're the guys who get the sneak peaks!**

 **And I will see you in whatever it is I do indeed decide to write next. See ya!**


	8. A Grateful Heart

Time certainly had not helped Marinette feel better about her encounter with Adrien as Ladybug. In fact, it had had the exact opposite effect. That morning she felt so anxious, so worried, so upset and so freaking scared of seeing him again that day.

She just _had_ to name-drop herself, didn't she? She just _had_ to do that.

What the _hell_ had she been thinking?!

"Nooooooooo..." Marinette cried softly and slightly dramatically into the pillow she was hugging tightly onto, kicking her feet back and forth underneath her bed sheets. "Oh God, he's going to hate me, isn't he? Ooooh, what if he decides that I'm some sort of weird creepy stalker that keeps watching him and following him and I start to creep him out so he tries to stay away from me as much as he possibly can and then everyone thinks that I upset him and he starts to hate me for it?!" Her mouth moving about a thousand times faster than her brain was thinking, she began rambling illogical, improbably things that made perfect sense in her worried mind. "He-e-e-elp meeeeeee!"

"Calm down, Marinette." Tikki tried to reassure her human partner in her usual tender manner. "You know Adrien isn't that kind of person, don't you?"

"You don't get it Tikki!" Marinette responded. "I've never seen him like this, ever! He was so cold, so uncaring... Oh God, I feel like I've really just screwed up and made matters worse..."

"You were trying to help, Marinette. I'm sure that Adrien will understand."

"But what if he didn't _want_ me to try and help? I - Oh noooo..."

She'd have to apologize. She'd have to do that the second she saw him, provided she could get past tripping over her own tongue for long enough to apologize to the model. She'd have to pour her heart out in apology, essentially, and pray that he would be understanding.

If she ever needed her powers of good luck, it was today, above all other days.

* * *

Plagg wasn't good with emotions. He knew that, Adrien knew that. That was fine. They understood one another fairly well. They joked around, and threw banter back and forth between one another. They knew what made the other one tick. So that meant that Plagg knew Adrien was absolutely shattered by the fact Ladybug.

So it certainly came as a surprise to the Kwami that Adrien seemed to be a lot better the next day.

Adrien had awoke and had slept well, as opposed to the previous nights all nighter with a billion thoughts spiraling throughout his brain. He looked more rested, and seemed to be more positive. He didn't stare at the ceiling for hours on end, nor did he seem to mope around, or seem to dread going to school that same day.

He looked... Fine. And Plagg wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not.

"Kid, you alright?" The magical creature asked his human master, hovering a few feet from his face. While he wasn't an expert on emotions or humans, that wasn't to say he knew _nothing_ about the subject matters. One thing he did know was that heartbreak was not cured this quickly, nor did it heal at this superhuman speed.

"Yeah, Plagg, I'm fine. Why?" Adrien replied, sounding like his normal self. Not his low, monotone, chronically depressed voice, but his usual more energetic voice back in his words.

The Kwami looked somewhat shaken by this. Adrien wasn't one to bounce back _this_ quickly. underneath the exterior he put up around himself, he was a sensitive kid, and rather emotional at times. He had dedicated himself solely to Ladybug, and the idea of falling in love with anyone else had seemed alien to him.

What the hell was up with this guy?

"You seem... Better."

"Is that a bad thing?"

"Its just... Unexpected."

"Gotta be honest Plagg, it is. I don't know why... But I feel like I'm gonna be okay." Adrien told his magical partner. It wasn't a feeling he could explain. More that it was something that he just knew. Part of it came from Ladybug's visit, and her mentioning Marinette.

That conversation had sparked his dormant curiosity about the blue haired girl in his class. She had certainly interested Adrien for a while now, in the sense that she was a nice, and rather interesting person. The two of them got along rather well, and Adrien did consider her to be a good friend, but they never really seemed to spend a lot of time together without something dramatic happening, pure circumstance preventing them from speaking, or the girls simple social awkwardness and stuttering problem she seemed to have around, specifically, him. Adrien wondered, why was that?

But this wasn't new. He'd just sort of come to accept that. He had always believed that it was because he was a model, and she liked fashion. He had assumed that she had felt somewhat intimidated by him, albeit not his intention to do that to her.

What had sparked his curiosity now was the fact that she seemed to know Ladybug.

How had that happened?...

That question rolled around in Adrien's skull for quite a while, before he spoke to Plagg again. "Hey Plagg, what do you reckon the odds are that Marinette knows Ladybug?"

"Uh... Certain?" Plagg asked, not quite understanding the question. "Didn't Ladybug say she knew who Marinette was? Isn't that why she came here in the first place?"

"There's more to it than that though... I'm certain of it..."

"Oh, Goodie! Feel like sharing with the class?" Plagg asked, referring to himself.

"Not really. I'm not sure yet, and it's not really something I can explain."

"You don't seem to be able to explain a lot of things these days, Adrien."

"That's because things seem to get more and more and more complicated with every day that passes." After he had finished speaking, his green eyes caught a glimpse of a green light from his finger. "Speaking of which..."

It was his miraculous, ready to transmit another cryptic message. Oh, _yay_. Adrien just _loved_ cryptic riddles. He preferred the direct approach, but unluckily for him, that option wasn't available. Shielding his eyes and aiming his hand at a wall, he felt the light shin on his eyelids, and then fade. certain he wouldn't see the blinding light this time, Adrien opened his eyes, and read once again, a poem from a magical item.

"A valiant effort to heal your soul,

She feels as she had failed her goal.

An effort always fated with doom,

Fearing salt has been rubbed in wound,

Hope in heart, she'll try again,

Yet fearing efforts shall be done in vain."

"Well, isn't that just positive." Adrien sarcastically muttered. In that second, his eyes widened. "Hold on a second. This thing tells you the poem of a soul mate, right?... This... Sounds a lot like..."

 _Marinette?_

Wasn't it her who wanted to make sure he was okay? Wasn't it her who asked Ladybug to check on him? Wouldn't it be her whom felt she had only made things worse, especially with the way Adrien had acted towards Ladybug? Knowing her, wouldn't she try to make amends for failing to do so, for fearing she had made matters worse?

This poem could practically be an analogy for Marinette's personality when she worries she had messed up, or offended someone in some way.

And his miraculous was showing him _that?_

"Marinette?..." He looked at his ring on his fingers, like he had just been enlightened.

Of all the people that there were on this planet, her? How well did he know her?... Was she...

This only further sparked Adrien's curiosity further.

* * *

The day was a tense one for Marinette. she had arrived late, yet again, and had been unable to apologize to Adrien, due to the fact they were in classes as soon as she saw him. She had had to, while sweating like she was stood next to the sun itself, walk past him, and try her very best not to make eye contact with him.

Throughout the day, her heart had been pounding like a jackhammer, worried and filled to the brim with anxiety about what she was going to say to the blond boy. what could she say to him?She could swear she could feel him thinking about her, and not in the way she would have liked.

On the bright side... He seemed to be doing better. He was writing things down, and seemed to be acting like his usual self, talking to Nino while he made his notes.

So, her mind could rest easy in that regard...

That was the important thing, wasn't it?

That he seemed to be feeling better... That was what was important...

When the bell for lunch finally rang, Adrien didn't move, and nor did Marinette. the fact Adrien didn't move, Marinette wasn't sure if that filled her with gladness that she didn't have to chase him down and do this in front of other people, or dread that he also clearly wanted to talk to her about things too.

"Girl, you coming?" Alya asked her friend, already waiting by the door for Marinette to follow.

"Uh, you - You go on, Alya. I - I have something to do here. I'll catch up."

"Alright, see you later then."

The door shut.

And then they were alone.

There were a few seconds of silence between the two of them, neither one of them sure which one was going to speak first. It was, in a word, immensely awkward.

And in a sentence, it was doing nothing to help Marinette's anxiety and beating heart.

"So, Marinette." Adrien spoke first, breaking the silence. Marinette froze. "How the heck did you convince _Ladybug_ of all people to come see me?" He had a soft smile on his face, indicating he wasn't too upset. "In fact, scratch that, how do you even _know_ her in the first place?"

"I - I - Um..." The accursed stuttering the blunette suffered from whenever she spoke to the handsome boy in front of her came back, like the floodgates had been opened. "I - I - she designs for m - I mean I did some designs for her!" Same excuse Ladybug gave Adrien, and it still worked, so why not use it again?

"She said the same thing." Adrien nodded, buying her reasoning. "Okay, so, again, how the heck did you convince her?"

"I... I saw you looked a bit... Upset... And - And I thought... Maybe Ladybug could help?..." Marinette knew this was a poor excuse of an answer, but it was all she had. "I - I'm sorry... She - She said it seemed to make you feel worse..."

"It did, if I'm honest." Adrien admitted, but he didn't sound upset with the nervous girl in front of him. Marinette was expecting him to yell. to shout. To sigh. To walk away. one of those, not that she knew which. Instead he smiled warmly at her. "But still, thanks, for trying. I'm grateful that you tried. I'm better now. I think it was just an... Off day."

"O - Oh... Well... I'm - I'm glad you feel better now."

"You're gonna have to show me your designs for Ladybug sometime though." Commented the blond model with a smirk. "You've got talent, and I think I'd be interested in seeing what you've come up with for _the hero of Paris_."

Marinette went scarlet at the compliment. The fact Adrien thought that she had talent in her designing filled her up with a feeling of confidence and a desire to show off a little bit to her crush. Did she have anything she had worked on in her sketch book? "I - I think I had a scarf idea I was toying with..."

The two of them wound up spending their lunch break together, Marinette showing Adrien all the various design sin her sketch book, and noting down any ideas or criticisms he, as a professional model, had with the designs. Normally this would be something Adrien would detest doing... But something about doing this with Marinette made it fun.

* * *

It certainly had been an emotional roller-coaster of a day for Marinette. After getting back home, she had instantly fallen asleep, allowing her body the rest it desperately required to recharge after a morning filled with anxiety, fear, relief and then enjoyment all compacted into the space of maybe a few hours.

She was so thankful - So, so thankful - That Adrien hadn't been upset with her. She really had been worried that all she had done is make him feel far worse than he already had been, guilt slapping her in the face as Ladybug. But he wasn't upset with her. He didn't blame her.

He had thanked her. Just for trying to help. She hadn't expected to be thanked for that... But the fact he had... Made her feel so happy...

And they had spent their lunch break together, going over her designs... The advice, criticism, and feedback he had given her had been invaluable, from a practical standpoint, and completely and utterly loved from an emotional standpoint. Being able to be next to him, being able to hear his voice so close...

Occasionally, their eyes had met, and Marinette's face would go red and she'd need to look away again in embarrassment. His eyes, his very stare, was just emitting warmth...

Alya had been armed with a list of questions and teases when she came back into the room and saw the two of them just before classes had started.

An emotional day indeed, but definitely not one she wished she had missed.

She found herself toying more with the idea of a scarf for Ladybug. Something she had been interested in adding for a while now, if only to try it out. The design not only went along with her costumes design, being red with black polka-dots, but also was designed to be of a material similar to that of her suit, making it combat reliable, planning for it to be a bit like a capture tape that she could use to help stop opponents moving.

Of course, it was still in early design stages. She had yet to find a materiel that would work like that. It was just something she did when she was bored, and wanted to indulge in her fantasies for a little while. She doubted it could objectively work... But there was potential in it. Maybe if she made the design a bit sleeker...

She had just closed her sketchbook and had been about to fall asleep. She had only just realized how late it was. Her going out as Ladybug had been needed tonight as well, due to a lack of active crimes that the police couldn't handle. That gave her a bit more freedom to do what she wanted to do, outside of being Ladybug. And right now, what she wanted to do was sleep. And she had been just about to do that, when she heard a tapping on her window.

A weird sense of Déjà vu came attacking Marinette. Didn't this exact thing happen in reverse yesterday with Ladybug and Adrien?

"Chat?"

A wild, toothy grin was her response. "Princess."

* * *

 **Okay guys, I've been teasing it long enough. It's time for us to actually start with the MariChat!**

 **I'm still toying with a few ideas for this fic, nothing in particular worth mentioning... Buuuuut it may be a good time to mention that I've got myself involved in a Crossover fanfic contest ( What the hell was I thinking), and I volunteered to do a My Hero Academia / Miraculous Ladybug story.**

 **What could POSSIBLY go wrong? (What the hell have I gotten myself into?)**

 **So, you may see that, you may not. Depends on how well it ends up being received in the contest.**

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	9. Was I Wrong?

For a few seconds, Marinette simply stared at her grinning partner, completely baffled as to what the heck he was even here for. He'd basically come here completely out of the blue, no real reason for him to even be here. staring back at her, he waved at her. Clearly he was expecting her to open the window so he could speak with her. For what, she had absolutely no idea. Had she not been so curious, she probably would have just closed her curtains.

"What are you doing here?" She asked, once she had opened the window, coming off as slightly more abrasive than intended.

"Not happy to see me, Princess?"

"Chat, I'm not in the mood for your games."

"I suppose we _could_ play computer games..."

"Chat!"

"What?"

With a heavy sigh, Marinette glared at the cat-themed hero who was stood with the biggest grin she'd ever seen on his face. they seemed to have a rather contrasting relationship, depending on who she was. As ladybug, she had a friendly, yet no nonsense attitude with him, occasionally engaging in his terrible jokes, but keeping focused on the task at hand. She could trust him with anything, and valued his honesty above all else.

As Marinette, she tried to keep up that sort of personality, but with a slightly more ' _Damsel-in-distress_ ' manner, so Chat wouldn't be able to put two and two together, and figure out she was Ladybug. In spite of that, being around him, she found it nearly impossible to put up with him sometimes. He was her closest friend as Ladybug, and that seemed to seep into their relationship when she was Marinette, regardless of if she wanted it to or not.

"Look, Chat, I'm tired, and I want to go to sleep, so what do you - "

"You really seem to like this model, huh?" Was he ignoring her, or was he just testing to see how far he could push her? He had gone over to her desk, literally walking past her, and had began inspecting her wall, lined with pictures of Adrien. She could have sworn she saw his cheeks go a bit red upon seeing those. "Celebrity crush?"

"No - Yes - I - None of your business, cat!" She broke out into a combination of stutters and blushes, which only seemed to amuse Chat Noir. He was enjoying himself, Marinette could tell. He was doing everything he could to stop himself from bursting out into laughter. She forced herself to calm down, before she addressed the hero in front of her. "What do you want, kitty? I'm tired."

Deciding he had had his fun, Chat turned to her with a smile, and leaned against her wall, his armed crossed, trying to look suave. "Nothing really. Just wanted to check up on you."

"Really? Why?" What reason did Chat have to check up on her of all people?

"Your captivating beauty beckons me to come to your side from across Paris, of course!" Chat stated with his usual flirtatious grin. Had it not been for the miraculous Soul Link revelation, Marinette would have been willing to put money on him doing this to every girl that crossed his field of vision. He kept it going for about five seconds before he gave her the real reason. "You've been having a rough couple of days. I wanted to make sure you were alright."

"How do you know if I've been having a good day or not?"

"These eye's aren't just here to look _purr_ -retty, Mari."

And now he was making puns. Ooooh, she wanted to punch him. She was really getting tempted to punch him. She probably would have done if he hadn't locked eyes with her, and she felt a wash of warmth cover her, similar to that she had felt with Adrien. Coincidentally, they shared the same green eye color, one Marinette adored. She could get lost in those for hours...

So she had to tear her gaze away from him to make sure she didn't. "So - So you watch me? Isn't that stalking?"

"I thought they called it ' _Watching from afar_ '."

"That's what they call it in movies." Marinette muttered, remembering this exact conversation happening with Alya a few days ago. Oh, she could practically taste the irony.

"Well, I don't ' _Watch you from afar_ ,' Princess. Let's just say I'm observant and I hear things." Chat stood upright and pointed at the pictures above Marinette's desk with his thumb. "You've been trying to help this guy, right?"

"How - How the heck did you..."

"Again, I'm observant." Chat said, almost purring at the fact he seemed to have one-upped Marinette's attempts at secrecy. "So, what's so special about this mug, then? Not a bad looking guy at all, but is that it?" He asked, referring to Adrien. "Seems a bit superficial if I'm honest."

"No, it's nothing like that!" Marinette defended, blushing. Why did she even feel the need to defend herself against Chat? What part of her brain was screaming at her to make sure he understood? Why did she even care what he thought of her? "He - He's handsome, yes... But there's a lot more to him than just that!"

"Such as?"

"Why - Why do you even care?"

"Maybe I wanna make sure my Princess is falling in love with the right guy."

Another explosion of color hit Marinette's cheeks. b=But it had nothing to do with Adrien... "He - He's a really kind person... And he's just a really kind guy... He's a famous model, so it would be so easy for him to become someone like Chloe - You'll have seen her, I'm certain - But he wound up as such a kind person... The first day I met him, I was convinced he was just like Chloe. Some sort of rich, self absorbed bully... But he proved me so wrong..."

Why was she telling him all of this?

"He's got all this confidence, all this money, fame, his future is basically assured for him... He's smart, he's generous, he's caring... He found a small kitten the other day, and went out of his way to help it. It's just a small thing, I know, but the small things are what makes up a person."

What was it about Chat?

"And when I saw he was feeling down... I tried to help... and just made things worse. I thought he was going to hate me. I really did... But he thanked me, for trying, even when I made him feel so much worse... He's so patient, so gracious and thankful for everything anyone does for him..."

Why was talking to Chat about Adrien so easy?

Looking at him now, chat had just watched, smiling kindly at him as she had just rambled on about the things she loved about Adrien, not at all interrupting, not questioning, not making fun of her, or doing anything like that. He was just smiling and listening to her. "Cute." Was all he had to say once he was certain she had finished talking.

For some reason, that compliment made her knees feel weak.

"Well then, I guess I've bothered you for long enough." Chat declared, making his way back towards the window. "Stay safe, Princess."

It would have been easy to let him go. Marinette could have not said a single word, and Chat would be gone, probably for good.

She didn't do that though.

And she never figured out why.

"Chat?"

"Yeah?" He turned his head to face her again, a soft expression on his face.

"Are you... Are you going to come back here at all?"

For the first time all night, Chat raised an eyebrow in question. "Do you want me to?"

A silent nod.

"Why?" The green eyed cat asked.

Why was a very good question. Why did she want Chat to come back? Why did she care? She didn't even know, but for some reason, whatever it was, she hated the idea of not being able to talk to Chat again like this.

What the hell was wrong with her?

"You... You're easy to talk to." That was all she had. She couldn't come up with any other reason, not even to herself, as to why she wanted Chat to come back.

And it seemed to work.

"Fair enough." Chat said with a shrug, and another cat-like grin, for about the tenth time in the last few minutes. Perhaps I'll come around again then."

* * *

What had Marinette been thinking?

Why did she ask Chat to return?

What possessed her to do that?

She had already rejected him as Ladybug, and he had seemed to be fine with it. He had, surprisingly, accepted it. So why? Why was she calling for him as Marinette? God, if he found out who she was, he'd think she was playing games with him!

Talking to him was so easy. Being around him didn't make her sweaty, it didn't make her feel worried. She could talk to him. That's what this was.

 _That's what this was._

But that didn't explain her beating heart around the cat themed hero.

Never, in the history of her life, had she felt her heart beat faster, not her face explode with color as much, except when she was with Adrien. With Chat, it felt different though. Almost stronger. Here was a person whom she, as Ladybug, had fought alongside so very, very often. They had faced dangers together, fought together, had one another's backs, defended the city, and become known as the unstoppable heroic duo to all of Paris. They were the closest of friends.

Not once had her heart gone like this around him as Ladybug. Hell, she had _kissed_ him as Ladybug, and that hadn't affected her, so what the hell was going on with her now?

Wasn't her soul linked to Adrien?

Another dazzle of light from her ear-rings. Marinette was starting to think that these miraculouses reacted to the very thought of a soul mate, or the Soul Link. The usual routine played out, and Marinette's jaw almost dropped after reading this message.

"A Soul Link closer than you know,

Caring for you, and yet although,

Heart broken and filled with pain,

He grins and gets back up again.

Wrongly he was pushed aside,

But by your souls does love reside."

Her brain began spiraling. Pushed aside? Filled with pain? Back up again?...

Was this... Was this message talking about Chat?

Was this poem referring to her pushing chat aside as Ladybug? As she had rejected him? But... she was linked to Adrien, wasn't she? She was certain of that, and the poems all pointed in that direction. They all indicated to her soul mate being Adrien. She was certain of it.

Had she been wrong?

 _Was her soul linked to..._

It was true that if Chat left, she wouldn't know what she'd do. She doubted she could defend Paris on her own. She relied on him heavily. they were two parts of one team. They needed one another to do the best work they could manage.

Had that turned into love at some point?

Was her soul linked to...

 _Chat Noir?_

* * *

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	10. Corruption Of Links

A wall of photos, all of his face.

Adrien would have been creeped out if it had been anyone - Anyone - Else who had all those photos of him. He had seen some of the sort of people who admired him... Not all of them were exactly what he would have called sane. Some were straight up obsessive.

Marinette having all those photos of him though... He felt flattered. Touched. It was weird. He didn't mind her having those photos of him, it just didn't bother him in the slightest. In an odd sense, he was sort of glad she had those photos of him.

Now, Adrien would be the first to admit that he was slightly curious about Marinette. He wouldn't lie about that at all if asked. He wasn't going to lie about that sort of thing. He was curious about her. There was something about her he wanted to figure out, explore, and understand. She seemed to be on par with Ladybug at times. He noted how she spoke to Chat. How casual she seemed in comparison to how everyone else spoke to him. How friendly, and yet hostile she could be in a moment's notice, but never outright hostile. More hostile in the sense she would get sassy with him, a bit argumentative, and a bit defensive all in one go.

Briefly, he toyed with the idea of Marinette being Ladybug. How perfect that would be.

But no. It sure as hell wasn't gonna be that easy, was it?

Still... Part of Adrien wondered...

Had he been wrong about Ladybug?

Why didn't it hurt anymore? Why had that pain been so brief? Why had it just come and gone so rapidly. The sharpest sting, and the quickest recovery. That seemed to be what had happened to the Parisian. There still was love for Ladybug, absolutely. He was in love with that confidence, calm, and picture perfect super-heroine of Paris, his trusted partner, and the person he had admired for well over a year.

But then... There was also something about Marinette. Something that was warm and familiar also. Something that was both calming and nerve wrecking at the same time. Something that compelled him towards her. The two of them were on friendly terms regardless of who he was, but their relationship varied depending on who Adrien was at the time. Around him, she was a nervous, clumsy, stuttering human train wreck - Now he knew why - And around Chat, she was sassy, somewhat confrontational, sprinkled with the occasional display of affection. Combined that together, and you had Marinette-Dupain-Cheng - A curious case indeed.

Neither sides to her personality had any traits he particularly disliked. He did wish Marinette was more comfortable around him, and slightly more calm around Chat Noir, but otherwise, he had nothing to complain about regarding the girl.

Additionally, she was cute. Adrien wouldn't deny that about her. He found the blunette girl cute, but until recently, he wouldn't have acted on it, because of his dedication to Ladybug. Being rejected by his lady... Being told their soul's weren't linked...

Had he been wrong to assume his Soul Link was with Ladybug?

All this time... Had it been with Marinette? The shy, awkward girl who sat behind him in class, became a wreck when they conversed, or even stood within a three foot radius? The girl who's talent at fashion and design was apparent for all to see? The girl who's kindness was unmissable to anyone in the entire school? The girl Chloe bickered with and tried her best to treat everyone fairly?

Had she been there this entire time?

And he had just been willfully blind to that?

A lot of things made a lot of sense when he considered those ideas. The original Soul Link message from his miraculous, the way seeing her smile made him unable to help himself but smile also, how he had wanted to be able to spend time with her as friends outside of school, how he simply enjoyed her company.

The way he had been treated throughout his life... All he had wanted was affection. Confirmation that he mattered. To feel like he mattered to someone else, not just as some sort of puppet to be controlled, not just as some boy that your paycheck relied on making sure was in the right place at the right time, not as some pretty face for all the girls in Paris to swoon over. Not as some sort of object to be won or lost.

To be loved and cared for as a person. To be valid. He had lived his entire life like an object since his mother left. His father became cold, and Adrien began to crave for affection. Someone to tell him he mattered to them.

Que his friendship with Chloe.

And then his partnership with Ladybug. Someone who treated him like he was an equal. He was told he mattered, and he could feel the care she had for him. Was that what had driven Chat, and Adrien, to fall in love with Ladybug? A desire for affection, no matter how it came, and he just attached himself to the person he felt gave it to him?

And then, meeting Marinette, someone who really knew him - The real him - And understood him. And cared for him anyway, beyond his looks and money and fame... The warmth that that gave him was something that would never be topped.

It all seemed to fit.

"Have I just been looking for love in the wrong place?..."

"Kid, I don't know, and I don't care, but I'm freakin' dying here!" Plagg wined, hovering around in circles above Adrien's head. "Feed me! I haven't eaten in the last three hours! I can feel my magic leaving my body!"

Adrien sighed. "I'll bet Ladybug doesn't have to put up with this sort of attitude from her Kwami..."

* * *

"I bet Chat Noir doesn't have to put up with this..." Marinette muttered to herself, stuffing every single book she needed for school work into her bag. Her additions bag was being stubborn, refusing to join the rest of her books, and wasn't going to go back in without a fight.

That wasn't what the frustrated blue haired girl was referring to though. She was willing to bet Chat didn't have to put up with this confused heart she found herself dealing with.

Finally convincing her additions book to join the rest of them, Marinete was able to leave her home, and, after a fond goodbye to her parents, made her way towards her school. It was on her way she found herself wondering, did Chat go to her school? Did he know her in their civilian lives? He had mentioned a similar sort of thing few times, hadn't he, when she was Ladybug. She remembered one time he had asked was during the fight with Alya - Lady WiFi, more accurately - Had been one of the first time's he had brought it up directly with her. Ladybug had shrugged it off, simply saying she found it unlikely, and left it at that.

And now Marinette was wondering if Chat Noir had a point or not.

Hadn't she been the one who had wanted to keep their identities a secret? Hadn't she been the one to tell Chat she didn't want to know who he was, despite him desperately wanting to know who she was? Hadn't she denied him that knowledge?

Wasn't it hypocritical of her to wonder who he was now?

Thinking about her possibly being in the same room as him a few moments from now... Her heart thumped more and more. Had she been wrong about Adrien? Was her soul not linked with his? Or did she share a Soul Link with Chat, but love Adrien? What was her heart and soul even doing at this point? Everything was twisted and turning, and she couldn't even think straight...

What was she doing?

What was her miraculous doing?

Who the hell was it even trying to talk to her about?

"Can't it ever just be simple?" She muttered to herself, her eyes closed while she took a quick sip of her bottled water. "Can't just be a case of ' _This is who your soul is linked to. This is who you love. Go get 'im, girl_.', can it?" The entire mess had her irritated in a certain way. She knew she was lucky in a sense of the word. How many people would kill for the chance to know who their soul mate was, what they were thinking and feeling, even if the messages were cryptic as hell?

"It's just the way things have to be, Marinette." Tikki could be heard from inside the schoolgirl's purse, able to hear her human partners normally incoherent muttering. "Things have to happen as they should."

"About that," Marinette inquired, "I was wondering, why is that? What's the danger of just telling us outright what's what? It seems like it would save us a lot of effort."

There seemed to be an internal debate within the Kwami's mind. It was a question Tikki was hesitant to share directly... But she knew she could skirt around a few specifics, and still answer the question... "There are a few cases in which Soul Linked partners tried to pry information out of their Kwami's..." Tikki shuddered. "A Soul Link is indestructible, but it can be corrupted. I... Remember one time with a previous Ladybug... I told her everything. She seemed able to understand it, and take it all with grace and understanding... She was the best Ladybug that there had been up until that point. She was just. She was righteous. She was kind and compassionate. In that sense, the only person who out-shone her is you."

"So... What happened?"

"She wound up killing her Soul Mate."

Ladybug's and Chat Noir's were Soul Mates by requirement. Without the other, the one couldn't exist.

Not allowing their Soul Link to act out how it should have, and instead letting things go into their own hands, Tikki had caused something horrific to happen.

A Ladybug had murdered a Chat Noir.

This knowledge made Marinette visibly distressed, her blue eyes widening and her mouth dropping, letting a shocked gasp escape her lips. She looked pained, like she wished she'd never asked. She actually sort of did wish she'd never asked. "How..."

"Soul Links draw both halves closer together, until they are ready for one another... These two weren't ready. I was the first time a Ladybug and Chat Noir ended up being enemies... But it's not the only time it happened. Sometimes they learned too quickly. Some managed to learn how to tamper with their miraculouses messages. Each time... One half always died... And the other half spent their entire life wandering aimlessly, empty, until the moment they died, and rejoined with their Soul Mate in the next life."

"That... Wow." Marinette couldn't really formulate the words. "So... That's why the messages are so cryptic..."

"They'll become more clear and easier to decipher the more ready each of you gets. They seem to be getting more and more understandable lately. Just be patient, Marinette. I promise you, it will be worth it."

"Yeah." Marinette commented, running her fingers over her earrings. "I sure don't want to end up killing my Soul Mate..."

 _'I don't think Chat would appreciate that either.'_ Tikki thought to herself.

* * *

School was a normal day that day. People studied and learned about various mathematical equations. They tried to figure out how the hell algebra worked, but no one seemed to be able to figure it out right away. The exception to this was Adrien, having been taught this by his private tutors maybe two years ago, and he was spinning though the sums like a lightning bolt.

She was right behind him. Marinette was right behind him. He had to fight the urge to turn around and stare at her, but she was right there. He wanted to talk to her. Now he knew how she felt, he almost felt like he was compelled to. But at the same time, he wanted to.

Was she the person his soul was linked to?

It all fit so well...

It almost seemed too good to be true.

Then again, how could he talk to her in a regular regard without her knowing it was him as Chat Noir? He couldn't mention the posters, Adrien hadn't seen them. He couldn't mention their conversation, he had been Chat Noir then. He couldn't bring up her crush on him, it hadn't been made apparent yet.

At least not to him.

"Hey, Natheniel, those drawings look really good!"

Allowing his head to turn, ever so slightly, relying on his now strained peripheral vision, Adrien saw Marinette stood by Nathaniel's desk, with papers scattered by his feet. He had dropped them mere seconds earlier, and had awkwardly gone to collect the ones he had dropped. Adrien hadn't heard the papers fall since he was in his own little world of imagining and thinking, but Marinette apparently had, and had helped him, grabbing on of his sheets carefully that had landed next to her fee, and gotten up to return it to him.

"Ah, um, thanks." Nathaniel replied, taking the compliment with about the grace of a truck falling off a cliff in the Namib Desert. The red headed artist was about as awkward as they came, easily beating the levels of awkwardness Marinette would occasionally display. Despite that, it wasn't hidden knowledge that Nathaniel had, or previously held a crush on Marinette, mostly thanks to Chloe. It had been an action of hers that Adrien had deeply disapproved of.

Though now... For some reason, seeing them interacting now irritated Adrien. He bit his lip before turning around again.

* * *

 **Got a few comments of people saying they wished the miraculouses would just tell them who the other was, or that they'd just learn who the other was... Well, THAT'S why. Time must be respected. Things will happen as they should. And Nathaniel... Oh boy : ) To be fair, I like Nathaniel, because I also am a quiet guy who draws in class and is as awkward as they come. Only difference is _HE_ can actually _draw_. I make more of a mess with a pencil.**

 **Regardless of my failure to be artistic, I hope you enjoyed this chapter ^_^ If you did, be sure to follow me on Wattpad, GamingEmpire, for earlier updates by up to 30 minutes, more interactivity, and low key, because I prefer the sites layout more.**

 **You can also follow my YouTube account if you wish, TheGamingEmpire, for the funnies and the likes. I need 26 more subs to reach my summer goal of 200 - Can we do it?**

 **I also have a Tumblr, GamingEmpire, that you guys can follow. I got a lovely message from one of you guys, who remained Anonymous - So thank you for that, whoever you are, I really appreciate that ^_^**

 **Links are in my profile description, and I'll be sure to see you in whatever it is I do indeed decide to write next. See ya guys!**


	11. Skin Like Magma

Adrien didn't dislike Nathaniel at all. He was actually rather impressed by the talent the artist had. He had an incredible skill for artwork, and what little of it he had seen impressed Adrien dramatically. And Natheniel wasn't a bad guy either. He was rather quiet, and Adrien had no personal problems with him.

But damn him if he didn't find himself feeling irritated by the fact that someone he knew full well had a crush on Marinette had been able to interact with her, while he was stuck thinking what the hell he could even say to her. Something inside him, like a small, little ball of anger had formed, and had sat heavily in his chest when he saw that.

Adrien wasn't the type to get jealous - Honestly. He got somewhat upset when he was denied the opportunity to go to a school, and he was envious of those who got to go, but he was never jealous. Well he was, but never in a possessive sense. That was always in more of the sense of longing from afar to be part of a world he could never really belong to. This was more something he wanted to rip away from Nathaniel.

Something inside him, seeing someone he knew could try to steal Marinette from him...

He blinked a few times, looking out his window. The sun shone as per usual, birds flew past his window, and Adrien had to take a deep breath.

He was getting ahead of himself, wasn't he? The way he thought about things made it seem like he and Marinette were already in a relationship. That wasn't the case whatsoever.

But the more he thought about it, the more convinced he was getting that Marinette was who his soul was linked to. The more these poems made sense. The more things fell into place, only further making him more certain. Each bit came together absolutely perfectly, forming this perfect, complete picture.

He felt the need to see her. To talk to her again. To see more of her, to understand her more, figure out what makes her brain work. To learn more about Marinette. To get to know her more. He wanted to get to know her more. He really did. When could he speak to her? It still seemed too early for a visit from Chat Noir. He'd be spotted in broad daylight, and that was a dangerous prospect. Adrien didn't want to put her in danger.

He'd have to give it a few more hours, a fact that irritated him, and he felt only served to stall him from seeing her.

He couldn't get why he felt so eager to see her though. Yes, he wanted to. Yes, he was interested in her. Yes, he wanted to confirm if they shared a Soul Link... But never before had he been this excited to see someone. Not even Ladybug. He felt like the longer he stayed away from her, the more insane he would get, until he became some sort of mindless beast. He felt like he was losing his mind just sitting here, doing nothing, thinking about this sort of thing.

"Aaaargh!" He groaned, rolling onto his side. "I'm going mad just sitting here!"

"Seriously kid, I'm starting to wonder if you're even sane at this point." Plagg commented with a hint of sarcasm, a hint of genuine concern.

"I can't stay sat here, Plagg. I need to do something." Sitting here, thinking about Marinette, was driving him insane. He needed a distraction. A reprieve. A task. Anything to kill time before it was safe to go see her.

"You _could_ get me some food..."

Adrien considered this for a moment, before he came up with his own idea. " _Or_ I could go on patrol..."

"I like my idea better."

* * *

Ladybug couldn't handle being cooped up in Marinette's room any longer. She had needed to get out of that place. The room was too small, and images of her and Chat were seeping into her brain. She had transformed and gone on patrol, swinging around the Champs-Élysées and the Louvre Palace, with no particular destination in mind. She went wherever her whims took her, without questioning how or why she wound up where she wound up.

For whatever reason, the city seemed abnormally busy today, so there certainly wasn't a shortage of onlookers who viewed Ladybug's patrol. Many of them reached for their cameras or smartphones to take videos or photographs. Ladybug didn't particularly mind, but she didn't stop to let them get those images either. She refused to slow down for anyone.

Marinette had been so close to Adrien all day. He had been right there, and how her heart was burning every time she saw him. Her skin felt like magma around him. And yet... She was convinced they weren't soul linked... At least not anymore. Or were they? Or was the miraculous messing with her again?

Ladybug's focus was so completely divided, she came close to slipping on a rooftop partway through a leap, which would have earned the award for the most ' _Marinette-like-move_ ' of her Ladybug career. As it turned out, flying through the air at high speeds, and thinking about boys, wasn't the best combination she had ever come up with. She managed to regain her focus quickly though, reflexively throwing her yo-yo onto a grappling position, which gave her added mobility.

She couldn't think about Chat right now, or it could result in a very high, very painful fall to the streets below.

She landed herself atop another roof, atop a cafe, specifically, and allowed herself to sigh. This had been why she had not wanted their superhero identities and their civilian identities getting all mixed up like this. As soon as it happened, their minds had become so completely crossed and confused and mis-matched, that Ladybug was barely even certain of what she was thinking of anymore.

Why in the hell had Marinette asked Chat Noir to come back to her house when he left? What had possessed her to think that was a good idea?

Well... She had come to a sort of conclusion as to why she had done... But she couldn't accept it yet.

There was no way she'd managed to start _crushing_ on Chat Noir.

Was that even possible? Had all those rescues, all those fights together, all their work saving Paris from Hawkmoth, everything they had done together, had she developed feelings for the black cat?... Was that reasonable?

She still didn't know, but she did roughly hazard the guess that Chat wouldn't be as bold as to try and visit her in the middle of the day, so she at least had that going for her. He was reckless, but not an idiot.

"My Lady."

Or he could appear right now. That was also a possibility.

Ladybug turned to face her cat-themed partner, whom had made himself quite comfortable by perching himself on the edge of the chimney the cafe had atop it. This was the first time the two of them had met, at least since Ladybug had straight up rejected him then. He had seemed very okay with it... But part of her now regretted that.

"There you are, Kitty." Ladybug greeted. "I was wondering where you had gotten to." The fact a mask covered her face was crucial in her ability to talk to him right now. She couldn't image what she'd do in this situation without her mask. All she knew right now was that the mask felt like lava, but taking it off meant a hell of a lot more complications.

"Well, the knight in shining leather had arrived, LB. Does my mistress hath a command for me to follow?"

"Stop talking like you're in medieval Europe for a start." She commented slyly. "And enough with the funny accent too."

"Done." Chat smirked. "I can do an American accent if you prefer."

"Oh for God's sake, please don't."

"You don't like my accents?"

"About as much as I like your puns."

"So... You _love_ them?"

"Like I like being set on _fire_."

"How cruel."

In spite of the exterior she was displaying, Ladybug couldn't stop her beating heart right now. She had gone on patrol today to avoid running into Chat for a bit, expecting him to show up in her room later today. What she hadn't been expecting, or rather, had been hoping for, was that Chat wouldn't show up to complicate the matters further. The relationship she and Chat shared as Ladybug was still a bit rocky, given the rejection a few days ago, and the female hero still felt uncomfortable with him right now. Yet Marinette didn't. Why was that? Was it because Chat saw Marinette as she was, and still came to see her. Maybe it was because she didn't have to hide...

"You'll have to forgive me for cutting our meeting short, LB." Chat spoke, standing up, with his staff around the back of his neck, and his hands tugging at it. "I'm expected somewhere else in a bit, so I'm gonna have to cut out _Chat_ short."

' _You're expected by me, Kitty_.' Ladybug could only think. She wondered, why... Why was this what she had become? Why was this what had happened to her? Why was she having these feelings regarding Chat Noir? Willingly ignoring his pun, Ladybug nodded and smiled, slightly nervously. "Oh? Busy, are we?"

A smirk from Chat. "I'm just meeting a friend."

"A close friend?..." Was she seriously fishing for information from Chat? She didn't even realize she'd done it until she'd already done it. She had to fight a compulsion to slap herself in the face. Was this ethical?

"Very close." Chat grinned, before leaping away.

The blue haired hero was lucky her red costume made her blush indistinguishable. Hearing Chat referring to her as such... For some reason, hearing that made her feel so happy, and her legs went weak.

"What am I doing?" She asked herself, covering her blushing face with her hands.

What was going on inside her head?

Not to mention her heart and soul.

* * *

 **Shorter chapter than usual because... I got nothing guys, I'm running low on the old idea bucket xD**

 **Makes me wonder how long Soul Link should be. Would you like another long story, or would you like a shorter one?**

 **Speaking of stories... I've been toying with a few concepts. Which ones would you like?**

 **Reverse Crush - Pretty much what you'd expect. It's become a bit of a favorite AU for me. I like it ^_^**

 **Chaos Theory - a selection of short stories throughout the series in which events REALLY could have gone either way. As you can tell with Pokemon, I've done a lot of work regarding the Chaos Theory. It's a bit of my forte. I love how dramatically a world can change by one simple action.**

 **SuperHero Traits - Humans have abilities known as Traits, and Adrien and Marinette (Along with others) train to become heroes. (I should mention, I actually plan to write a story about this totally unrelated to Fanfiction. Its a concept I've been messing with, so I have a lot of fun ideas for this one.**

 **If you guys really want one of these, I MAY run one of these alongside Soul Link as a secondary thing.**

 **Either way, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. If you did, please do remember to follow me on Wattpad, GamingEmpire, where you get stories from me a half hour earlier, along with more interactivity from me, and a look at my original works.**

 **You can also subscribe to my YouTube, TheGamingEmpire, if you want to, and you like the funnies and the Animes.**

 **You can also follow my Tumblr, GamingEmpire, for blogging needs. You guys hear about my writing stuff first!**

 **Links to everything are in the profile description.**

 **Let me know about everything, and I'll see you all in whatever it is I do indeed decide to make next. See ya!**


	12. Her All Along

Despite having separated from Ladybug after only conversing with her for a few moments, Chat didn't go straight to see Marinette until a couple of hours had passed. It mostly still felt way too early for him to go and see her, and he had to make sure that people knew he was around, so no one thought he went missing, or make it look like he was sneaking around to go to Marinette's on the off chance someone did see him.

The other part of him was wondering about various other occurrences that he should really be thinking about. The risks involved with talking to her as Chat were massive. If he was seen talking to her too frequently, that could impose a huge risk to her in itself. Then again, she had to be aware of those risks herself if she was the one who asked him to return, didn't she?

In spite of that, she had asked him to return, and so he would.

Another leap across a roof to another one brought Chat Noir ever closer to the bakery that the blue haired girl lived in. He could see her home from here, and thought to himself was she waiting for him? Expecting him? Or had she forgotten, and gone out with a friend?

Or maybe she'd changed her mind. Maybe she didn't want him to show up.

All very real possibilities, and all perfectly understandable in their own way. He wouldn't push her, regardless of whatever the situation was. If she asked him to leave, he would. He wasn't about to harass the girl.

He only wanted to confirm what he felt his soul was trying to tell him.

Making one final leap, there he was clinging from the bakery's wall, just above Marinette's window. He was here, after having done laps around the entire city for the last few hours. Now he was here, he thought to himself, what would be a fun way to mess with her?

He came up with a simple idea. He knocked on her window, and waited. Marinette did indeed open the window, and as well as proving she was in, proved that she had been waiting for Chat.

But he wasn't there. And the blue haired girl was clearly completely and utterly confused.

"What the?..." She muttered, looking around for any signs of Chat Noir, but finding nothing to indicate he had even been there. She scratched her head and went back inside her room, closing the windows.

She hadn't looked up, though.

Chat had been hanging upside down, almost expecting Marinette to certainly check up, where she would have seen Chat hanging upside down with a Cheshire grin.

This could work too though. Hell, this could be even better. He carefully lowered himself, so that he could see through her window. She was sat at her desk, sketching something in her drawing pad, constantly filling it with new ideas. Adrien had seen them all, and her talent was irrefutable.

He watched her for a little while. His plan was to wait for her to just happen to look out her window again. He imagined that she'd probably have a slightly angry reaction to that, but he was willing to take that risk. He smirked at the thought of seeing Marinette freaking the hell out for a second before realizing that it was just this dumb alley cat again.

Chat's jaw instead, despite being upside down, dropped.

* * *

"Uuuurgh, Tikki..." Marinette groaned, scribbling out one of her sketches, tearing out the page, and throwing it across the room in frustration. She couldn't get her regular drawing rhythm going. She was too distracted. by thoughts of Chat. By thoughts of Adrien. By thoughts of everything rushing into her head that set her skin alight. "Uwwaaaaaa, why are Soul Links so complicated?

"You're feeling frustrated?" Tikki asked. She had hovered across the room to collect Marinette's pencil sharpener, and held it out for the human girl to grab. Marinette showed the small Kwami an open palm, on which Tikki placed the metallic stationary equipment.

"Confused and completely frustrated, yeah." Marinette groaned, sharpening her pencil over the garbage bin she kept under her desk specifically for pencil shavings. The bin itself was about half full, direct results of previous art sessions. "My brain is fried, and my skin's like its on fire. I don't know what's going on with me anymore."

"When you and I merge, I get a vague idea for what emotions you're feeling." Tikki commented, landing on the desk next to the sketch book. "You're thinking about Chat Noir, right?"

A blush found it's way onto Marinette's face. Busted.

"You're falling for him, aren't you Marinette? Really falling for him."

Her brain screamed at her to deny it. It absolutely screamed. There wasn't any way she was really falling for Chat! The idea of crushing on him was bad enough, but the idea of seriously falling for him... That wasn't possible. He wasn't a bad guy, not at all. But the puns, the terrible jokes, his cockiness, the self-sacrificing recklessness that caused her to worry sick... The selfless acts... His total honesty...

The lines were blurring. Weren't those positive traits about Chat?...

The other half of her brain told her not to deny it. She had enough secrets as it was. she could lie to everyone in Paris. She could lie to her parents. She could lie to Alya. She could lie to Nino, to Chloe, to Ivan, to Alix, to Natheniel to everyone else. To Adrien. She had done that a thousand times this past year. Lying to others was something Marinette was, depressingly, very good at, hypocritical as it may be, when her most valued trait in a person is their honesty. She could hide a secret again and again. She could keep secrets, and defend them like her life depended on it. Many times, it did.

She could do all of that... But she couldn't lie to herself.

She really was falling for Chat Noir. Of everyone on this planet, she was falling for Chat-freaking-Noir.

She stayed silent for a few moments, staring at Tikki, who stared straight back, and then buried her head in her hands. "Oh God... Of everyone in this city, I fall for the most complicated one possible... And I still like Adrien..." She lightly punched her head in frustration. "Brain, work with me here, please."

In that second, Marinette heard what sounded like a scramble, and could have sworn she saw something shoot past her window screen at light-speed, leaving her with only a short, blurred, black glimpse of what it could have been.

It was probably a pigeon. Paris was full of them.

* * *

That was a Kwami.

Marinette was talking with a Kwami.

Ladybug is the only other person in Paris he knows for a fact has a Kwami.

Marinette is Ladybug.

Holy crap.

Chat just hung there, now out of sight from Marinette's window. His hand was covering his agape mouth, and his eyes could not be any wider. He was struggling to intake air into his lungs, partly thanks to his hands covering his respiratory systems, but even if they hadn't been, he'd be in trouble. His body was tense as all hell, and his heart was going absolutely insane.

Ladybug is in the room below him.

And it's Marinette.

Holy-freaking-Christ.

"It's her?!" The cat themed hero couldn't even comprehend it. Ladybug had been there. Right there, all this time. Right there, essentially freaking next to him! How blind did he have to be to have not seen this?! The hair?! The attitude Marinette gave him as Chat Noir?! The convenient disappearances - He could punch himself in his own stupid freaking head. Of course it had been her! "Oh, bravo, Agreste, bravo." He muttered to himself, silently clapping.

It all made sense!

Ladybug's side-stepping straight up rejections of him! The posters and pictures of him! Ladybug had been crushing on Adrien Agreste this entire time?!

He wanted to go back in time and punch his previous self in the nose for being such a blind moron.

Of course, it was all well and good knowing who Marinette was now... But how the hell was he gonna even slightly bring that up in a conversation? That was about a thousand times more awkward than any double conversations that he'd have to have with her without letting her know who was behind this mask.

Then again, there wasn't any need for this mask anymore, was there?

Chat Noir loved Ladybug, and had grown to admire Marinette. The fact of the matter was, before he had come to understand Marinette more, he would have loved her anyway under the mask, simply because she was Ladybug. That was what he had told himself after the two of them have defeated Stoneheart together. But now... He had grown to like Marinette as a person, without even knowing she was Ladybug... He had this perfect image of her in his mind... This adorable, cute, talented and energetic girl, was the same fearless, confident and beautiful heroine he had fallen in love with as Chat?

His Soul Link was with Ladybug... And that was also with Marinette!

It had been that perfect?...

Adrien had never been one to believe in fate... But holy crap, this all made a convincing case.

The only question he had now was... How would he reveal his identity to her as Adrien Agreste? It didn't strike him, for a second, that it was fair that he knew her identity, but she didn't know his. She deserved to know at this point... But... At the same time... This was a rare opportunity...

A regular grin appeared on the black cat hero. If he knew... Why should he waste this opportunity? There wasn't any reason he shouldn't... Get a little even, was there? He could rationalize it as a small bit of revenge for all the times Ladybug rejected him. Nothing too distressing or hurtful... but a bit of teasing wasn't a problem.

He almost laughed. About the situation. About learning who Ladybug really was. About his plan. everything. The whole world seemed to make so much more sense, and he wanted to laugh everything off.

He was gonna have some fun with this.

* * *

 **Oh I'm gonna have fun with this. The reveal actually came around on accident, it wasn't planned for this chapter... But I thought I needed something to move the story along... And I fully intend to make the most out of it ^_^**

 **Lotta you seemed to want this story to be longer... And there seemed to be a very even spread of opinions about the three universes I offered, which makes me sorta happy that I have an audience that has a wide range of interests and likes variety.**

 **To answer a specific question I got regarding the Traits Universe, Their powers would kind of vary. Someone like Nino for example my get Hydrokinesis, similar to his bubble powers, whereas Alix might get super speed, akin to her rollerblading deal. That sort of thing. It would most likely be a reference to the character. That sort of deal. The Trait universe is probably the one of that list I'll do first, since there's no real conclusive opinion from you guys, and I like the idea of writing my own universe inside the Miraculous one. I'll give it a few more days for you guys to decide if you want that or not.**

 **Either way, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and if you did, be sure to follow my Wattpad, GamingEmpire, for earlier updates and more interactivity from me ^_^**

 **You can also follow my YouTube account, TheGamingEmpire, for video games and comedy stuff. I do a lotta fun stuff there with you guys ^_^**

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 **Links to everything are in the profile description, and I'll see you in whatever it is i do indeed decide to write next. See ya!**


	13. I'm Enjoying Myself

Chat Noir didn't show up last night, and Marinette couldn't help but feel disappointed. She knew that they hadn't made plans to see one another tonight, and maybe Chat had decided seeing her twice, two nights in a row was rather risky, but she still couldn't shake the bitter feeling of rejection.

She was gonna tear herself apart the more she kept thinking about everything that was going on in her life this much. So much of her mind was being occupied by the Soul Link. By Chat Noir. By Adrien. By other things she had barely paid any attention to. She wasn't even aware if there was supposed to be homework done for today, but at this point, she didn't even care. She'd take the consequences of not having done the work. She just couldn't care less right now.

There was a large part of her that felt like she was being a massive traitor. She felt like these feelings, these emotions that she was having towards Chat made her betray Adrien. Like she was doing something forbidden behind his back. It wasn't the same feeling she would get if she was cheating on him, not that she knew what that felt like... But it felt like she was just being unloyal. How long has she wanted that blond boy to see her?... And now she was falling for Chat?...

But her heart still pounded to think about Adrien Agreste...

Her heart was being torn between two different boys, and she felt like she was betraying both of them. Of course, she knew she was being irrational. She had never entered any sort of relationship with either of them... Despite her longing to, but she still couldn't help but feel guilty as hell about it all.

Thinking about all of this before going to bed wasn't helping her get to sleep at all. All it did was hinder the poor girl's efforts at getting to sleep. Was it wrong of her to like Chat Noir as well as Adrien? Did she like Chat more than she did Adrien?... Was that because Chat had always been there, loyally stood by her side when the Akuma had attacked, always having her back, and making sure she was safe, recklessly charging in like a lunatic to ensure her safety above his own. Was it how he had taken an interest in the more wild side to her personality, the more confident and brave part of her persona, or was it how he had taken an interest in her regular persona, the flawed, clumsy, stuttering one? Or was it that he had taken an interest in both?... That he'd been interested in the full picture

She wasn't getting anywhere by thinking about it this much... But it was impossible to stop thinking about all of it. Like it was set to remind her every second of her conscious state. No matter how much she tried, no matter how much she wanted to, she could never shake off these thoughts.

Dealing with a crush on Adrien Agreste, handsome, smart, intelligent and kind model, was difficult enough... Dealing with a crush on him and on the other half of the hero of Paris duo, Chat Noir... Dealing with double the emotions wasn't doing any good for her.

She sighed to herself, for maybe the hundred-and-fiftieth time that night alone. All she wanted was a simple solution... That really was the only thing she could ask for at this point.

 _Tap tap tap._

Not the solution she was looking for, but she'd take it.

She moved her head to the side and saw two glowing green eyes staring back at her. To anyone else, it would have been like something straight out of a horror movie, but Marinette had seen these sparkling emerald eyes a thousand times before. They gave her a certain feeling of comfort and warmth, like a guardian angel was watching over her and protecting her.

He had come tonight?

Throwing her covers off herself, she jumped from her bed and onto her wooden floor, not making a noise with her light landing, and practically skipped her way to her window, to fling it open for the dark clothed hero.

"Princess." Chat says with a smirk. He was in a good mood, she could tell just from his voice. "You look happy to see me." With that, he climbed inside, allowing himself to shiver ever so lightly due to to temperature difference from inside Marinette's room and the cold outside air.

"I thought something had happened to you, you dumb cat." Marinette informed him, shutting the window once he was inside her room. Once shut, Marinette realized just how warm this room had become.

"So you were worried about me?" A grin appeared on Chat Noir's face. "How touching."

There was something about Chat right now that would have normally sent out danger signals to Marinette. He seemed like he was on a hunt, more smug than he normally was. Every action he was making was deliberate, careful, and Marinette felt, rehearsed. He had planned this - No, he was making sure he enjoyed himself here. He knew something Marinette didn't.

Yet she was putty in his hands. She was just answering with her emotions, not with logic or knowledge. "Against my better judgement..."

"You were the one who asked me to return, if I recall, Princess." Chat Noir reminded her with yet another smirk. He stood up tall, maybe a half head taller than the blue haired superhero in front of him. "Did you have a _purr_ -ticular reason for that?"

"I can promise it wasn't to hear those puns..." Marinette muttered with a groan, looking away from him.

"What a shame. Ladybug seems to like my puns."

' _No, I can promise you she does not like your puns, at all._ ' Marinette thought to herself.

"So - Did you have a reason to ask me to come back here?"

"Not specifically." Marinette sat at her computer chair, swirling it around to face the worst possible choice of a crush she could have made. "I just... Wanted to talk to you, that's all."

"You called Chat Noir from his daily patrols to have a chat?" The miraculous holder chuckled to himself. "I'm not sure if it's more amusing that you asked, or it's more amusing that it worked - Here I am. I must be drawn to you, My Lady."

Under a normal conversation and circumstance, Marinette would have caught this particular phrase, but right now, she was focused on her blazing hot skin. The fact she was in her pajamas's in front of the hero didn't help matters once she realized that that was all she was wearing, sending yet another wave of embarrassment throughout the young girl. "I - I guess, so?..."

"You're acting all shy, but you like that you have that power over me, don't you?" Chat asked, taking a step closer to her.

The air shifted all of the sudden, and MArinete found herself closer to Chat than she had been before. Sure, they'd been closer than this as Ladybug and Chat Noir, but that was only ever when they were fighting Akumatized villains. Where they got close to each other and never had time to really think about it. This was different. This screamed intimate vibes. The moment was tender enough, and Chat wasn't doing anything to lessen it. He practically was thriving on it. "You can call this cat from anything, at any time, and you like that you've got that power, don't you?" He added on, with a particularly happy grin.

He wasn't wrong either. He was reading her like a book, specifically the chapter of her emotions, namely, embarrassment. He had hit the nail right on the head. The idea she could call upon Chat Noir whenever she - Not Ladybug, _Marinette_ \- Needed him, and he'd arrive... she liked it. And she was using this power to just... Talk to him... "Maybe I do..."

"So, let me ask you something, Princess." chat smirked in his victory. "I'm... Let's say, observant. I notice you when you don't notice me when I'm on my regular patrols. That boy, Adrien, right? The celebrity crush you've got?"

"I explained to you it's not a 'Celebtiry crush', but yes?... What about him?"

"You seem to stutter and be awkward around him... But not so much around me. Care to explain why?" His grin had become seriously smug now.

He knew.

He was aware about all these feelings she had been having about Chat. Chat Noir knew about her crush on him, and he was loving it. He was playing with her, and he was loving it. He had called her out on it in a roundabout way. He knew about her crush on Adrien, and asked why she wasn't nervous talking to him - Implying she had a crush on Chat.

Either he was very lucky, or he was psychic.

"Wha - That - I - I don't have a crush on you, that's why!" Marinette threw out a flurry of denials, knowing full well they were totally in vain, but she attempted to cover up her emotions out of sheer reflex. Her arms were flailing, like she was trying to stop Chat from coming any closer to her, cover up her blush, and punch Chat Noir in the gut all at the same time, but instead, wound up achieving nothing on that list. "You - you're - You're really thinking highly o-of yourself if - If you think _that's_ the case!"

Chat seemed to lean back a bit, with a look of satisfaction. "You know what they say. Curiosity killed the cat. I guess my Soul Link was lying to me."

"Soul... Link?"

Marinette's eyes shot open. Chat had only mentioned the Soul Link to Ladybug. Ladybug was the only other person who knew. And they both knew better than to talk about their miraculouses to random civilians... Except, Marinette wasn't any random civilian. And Chat Noir was many things... But he wouldn't take a risk as silly as that unless he had damn good reason.

No - Unless he had concrete evidence...

 _'Oh my God.'_

He hadn't known who his soul was linked to... Was he saying... He had figured it out?

And it was her?

And more importantly...

"That's two time's you managed to steal both my heart, and my soul," He bowed, and looked up at her, " _Ladybug_."

He knew who she was.

"You... How... How did you -" She wouldn't deny it. There was no point. She could deny it for the next few days, and Chat wouldn't buy it.

"Clue one - Both of you are cute as hell."

Chat took a step closer to her.

"Clue two - I happen to know both you and LB very well."

Another step closer.

"Clue three - Both of you have beautiful, blue hair."

He leaned in closer to her, their faces barely centimeters away from touching.

"Clue four - I saw you talking to your Kwami last night. Sort of a big giveaway, if I'm honest."

Marinette had to resist the urge to smack him in the head with the nearest article of clothing she had to offer as he came in even closer. Their lips were barley even an inch away. She didn't resist.

"And finally, clue number five - I'm drawn to both of you in ways I can't even begin to describe. I'm not sure if you're even a human half the time. There's no way any human can draw me in with such gravity, so you much be from space."

"That... Was a drawn out pick up line." Marinette commented softly, fully aware of how little space was between them. She couldn't back away even if she wanted to. He was going to kiss her, and she wanted it. Her lips were already parted, in anticipation of the moment their lips connected.

"It works if it's accurate." Chat said, suddenly bolting upright. "Much as I'd love to kiss you as much as you're wanting me to," He commented, tapping her lips with his finger, sparking a huge blush to appear on Marinette's face, "Not yet. There's no point to doing that unless you know who I am."

"Then - Then show me..." The flustered girl could only weakly argue, her heart pounding in both anger and disappointment that Chat hadn't kissed her.

"Hrrrrmmm~" Chat hummed to himself, his finger and thumb on his chin. "As I recall, wasn't it Ladybug who said 'We have to keep our identities a secret, even from each other'?"

"That's - that's not fair! You already know who I am!"

"Then call me an opportunist."

"You're really asking for it, Chat!"

"Oh I'm _begging_ for it, My Lady, trust me, nothing would make me happier than the opportunity to _ravish_ you as we speak." He put special emphasis on that word, which could have made the blunette girl pass out from embarrassment alone, had Chat nor finished his sentence, "But now I know you like me... I want to issue you a little challenge."

Marinette could only nod, her heart racing too quickly to allow her to respond.

Scooping up her right hand and holding it in front of him, like a knight taking his lady's hand for the first time, he said to her, "If you can figure out who I am by, say, the end of this week, I may just forgive all those times you've sidestepped me, along with the other more... Well, I'll let you figure out that when the time comes."

Part of her wanted to slap Chat. There they were, right now, Soul Linked partners... So close... All this stress, all this worry the two of them had mounted up for all this time... This tender, intimate opportunity to make it all go away... And he wanted to play a game with her?! Of everyone on this Earth...

"And... What happens if I fail?"

"Oh, I'll collect my debt, don't you worry about _that_." Chat told her with a wink. Marinette didn't even need time to imagine what he was insinuating. "So for my sake, _please_ , don't even bother trying to figure it out."

"Well... You know Ladybug doesn't back down from a challenge, Kitty." Marinette replied confidently, despite being frail as water at the knees. "I'll play your game... But I reserve the right to punch whoever the hell it is underneath that mask of yours once I figure it out."

"Deal, My ladybug." Chat nodded, planting a soft kiss on Marinette's knuckles. "Don't be too disappointing by the lack of a kiss, by the way... That'll come later. Plenty of those will come later~ This is too much fun to pass up on though."

"You're enjoying this far too much."

"Oh, absolutely." Chat looked at his ring and noticed how little time he had left before becoming himself again. He had been teasing this girl for so long, he hadn't even heard his miraculouses beeping. "Well, this has been fun, Princess, but I've gotta run. Tell your Kwami, wherever it is, I say hello." Leaping backwards towards the window, he opened it up, and winked at Marinette once more "I'll see you tomorrow, Ladybug." And just like that, he was gone, leaving Marinette all alone to process what had just happened.

Chat had given her a lot of information to process... She knew that this person knew both her and Ladybug well... So that did help narrow it down a bit, but not by a lot. He also basically admitted he knew Marinette in school, so that narrowed it down further...

Absentmindedly, Marinette pressed her lips against the point Chat had kissed her knuckles. "Oh, I'll figure out who you are, Chat Noir."

And she was gonna punch whoever was under that mask for being so smug.

* * *

 **AAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH! I'M SO SORRY I MISSED YESTERDAYS UPLOAD. FORGIVE ME ;-; ENJOY THE EXTRA FLUFF. JUST ENJOY IT, PLEASE ;-;**

 **I planned for a little more of a build up, but you guys deserve the fluff after my failure to update. Please forgive me on that front, but I had lots of stuff to do ;-;**

 **There seems to be a HUGE amount of support for the Traits Universe on Tumblr, so I'ma go with that one. Don't worry, One shots and Reverse Crush will happen. The ask was just for which one you'd prefer to see first, and Traits has pretty clearly smashed that question.**

 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and if you did, be sure to follow me on Wattpad, GamingEmpire, for earlier uploads, and more interactivity.**

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 **Links to everything are in the profile description, and I will see you in the next chapter of whatever it Is i do indeed decide to write next. See ya!**


	14. A Few Choices

Marinette didn't get any sleep that night. Her heart was beating and her mind was processing a thousand different things. She wasn't really tired anyway anymore. She'd made herself a late night coffee to help keep her awake while she thought.

Chat was toying with her. He wasn't making a secret of it. He was really having fun with toying with her. He was doing it deliberately, and he was making the most of it. He was giving her tips and subtle hints to lead her along the right path. He was enjoying watching her wonder about these things.

Oooooh, she was going to punch him once she found out who he was. Right in the gut.

"Would my miraculous help figure out who he is?..." She wondered aloud. Tapping her magical earrings, she tried to spark the messages. "Soul Link! Soul Mate! Connection!" Nothing. She wasn't sure what she had been expecting. The miraculouses hadn't been giving her messages lately, which was something that she found rather weird. Maybe they had run out of poems, or maybe they didn't need to send her messages anymore. Perhaps something was wrong with her miraculous... Great. Another thing to think about.

"It doesn't work that way, Marinette..." Tikki groggily responded from her sleeping space, awoken once again by a confused Marinette's noise.

"Oh, Tikki... Sorry, I've kept waking you up these past few days, haven't I?" Marinette sincerely apologized to her sleepy Kwami.

"It's fine... I'm used to it at this point. Every Ladybug has had questions and been confused about the Soul Link... I think I remember the Amazonian Ladybug tried hitting her miraculous against a tree when it refused to tell her anything about the Soul Link."

"...How would _that_ help?"

"She was a lot more hot-headed than you."

That earned the first real laugh Marinette had been able to have all week. So far, she hadn't had the chance to really just relax for half a second. Everything that had happened had been draining her emotionally and physically. She hadn't been able to laugh in a while.

"So, what is the issue? It's not broken, is it?" Marinette asked, once she had managed to stop laughing.

"Miraculouses can't be broken. It just needs to recharge itself."

"Re-Charge?"

"They have to tap into the very Soul Link's themselves to send you messages... You two must have been interacting so much it's shorted it out for a bit. It should be back to normal in a few days."

"Will it affect me being able to become Ladybug?"

"Not at all."

Marinette sighed. That was good to know. "Thanks for that, Tikki. You should go back to sleep now."

"What about you, Marinette?" Tikki asked, with a yawn.

"I'm not tired yet. Don't worry about me." She told her Kwami sweetly, with a reassuring smile. "I'll be okay."

Nodding, Tikki drifted back into sleep, leaving Marinette alone once again, to her thoughts.

Chat had made no secret that he knew who Marinette was in his civilian identity. He had practically given her a starting line. He was testing her. He wanted to see if she could find him now. He probably wouldn't have done that if he hadn't seen Tikki the previous night, like he claimed... So that meant he was going to offer some tips to who he was behind that black mask.

So everyone Marinette knew was a suspect.

Wonderful.

* * *

"Kid, you are playing with some serious fire here." Plagg commented.

Adrien smugly walked to his school with his hands in his pockets, a smirk on his face, and a spring in his step. The limousine had broken down again, and was still awaiting repairs, so his father had been left with no choice than to let Adrien walk to school on his own again.

Of course, it might have helped if Adrien wasn't the one ensuring the limousine kept breaking down, via methods he kept to himself. He enjoyed walking to school. He liked the freedom it gave him, even if he was set to a selected destination. Even being driven in that large black car was like he was being kept under surveillance the entire time. Being able to go throughout the city freely without it was a blessing. Part of why he loved being Chat Noir.

That and his chances to tease the hell out of Marinette.

"I'm enjoying myself, Plagg." Adrien commented.

"I can tell. This never works out for any person who tries to mess with Ladybug's. Never has gone well in history. Trust me - I've seen most of it."

"Maybe... But this is too much fun."

"You're actually kind of a jerk underneath that pretty-boy face, aren't you?"

Adrien resented that remark, but he didn't say anything to Plagg. Truth be told, he realized that what he was doing could be seen as a jerk thing to do, but he rationalized it by saying that Marinette had, unknowingly, been rejecting him for how long? She couldn't hate him for wanting a tiny bit of payback, and it wasn't like he was doing it out of malicious intent.

The truth was, he really did care about Marinette.

Which was why he wanted to see if she could identify him and Chat Noir. If she could see the one inside the other. If she could see the Chat inside Adrien, and the Adrien inside Chat Noir. He wanted to know if she could see him - Who he really was - Behind that mask.

His mind wondered to the previous night. He remembered how close he had been to Marinette. He remembered how red her face was, yet at the same time, how calm she looked, despite obviously being embarrassed to the heavens and back. He had fully intended to kiss her then. He had completely planned on doing that, but he had wanted to tease her some more. Make her want him, more.

Because what would probably kill him is if him - Adrien - Being Chat upset her in some way. It shouldn't, since he knew of her crush on him... But Adrien Agreste and Chat Noir were two very different kettles of fish. One was a model. The other was a superhero. Or would it make her more happy?... He had no idea, really, but he didn't want to push her.

Rather, he was just enjoying the moments he had with her. For all he knew, knowing who he was underneath that mask could make her send him away. If she chose to do that, he would, albeit depressed, accept it.

"You reckon she'd like the fact I'm Chat Noir?" Adrien asked his Kwami. "Or do you think she'd hate me for it?"

"Kid, she has a wall covered with your _face_. Take a guess." Plagg said, putting in as much sarcasm as he could muster. "Stop being paranoid and just tell her already."

It was an irrational phobia Adrien was having. He knew there wasn't any real reason for him to be this worried about her reaction to him... But there was always that irrational doubt that held him back sometimes. "Maybe... But I am enjoying keeping her on her toes." He'd make it up to her once she figured out who he was.

"Have fun with dealing with the consequences, kid."

* * *

The day passed by without major incident, leaving Marinette with only two days before the end of the week. She had made absolutely no progress on discovering who Chat Noir was. No one seemed to fit the bill. Everyone either was physically speaking, incapable of being Chat Noir, such as hair color, eye color, or body type, or their personality didn't match up in any way, shape or form with his. Marinette had very few ideas as to who Chat could be at this point, and wondered if he had intentionally set her on the wrong path to mess with her.

She knew he wouldn't make this easy, but she would have imagined, knowing him, he would have made some sort of action to indicate who he was during the class. A Cheshire grin. A pun. a 'My lady', or 'Princess'. Something to give her some indication, but she had seen nothing.

Really, she was stumped as to who he could be at this point. She walked through her usual shortcut through an alleyway on her way home, scratching her head in confusion. "Who are you, Chat Noir?..."

"Not doing too well on figuring out who I am, are you, Princess?"

And of course, he was here now. Looking up, Marinette saw that smug cat, hanging upside down from a roof ledge like some sort of adrenaline junkie. "You don't make it easy for me, Kitty."

"I thought you never backed down from a challenge?"

"A challenge involves me having a chance at figuring out the answer."

"Everything is right in front of you, my Ladybug." Chat winked. He wasn't quiet, either, speaking like they were in an enclosed space. In reality, they were in an alleyway.

"Keep your voice down!" She hissed, checking to make sure no one was behind them. Chat would have known, since he had an aerial view of the place, but hearing him call her that in public terrified her. "I swear you're just testing me at this point."

"What can I say?" Chat grinned. "Seeing you angry is adorable."

Marinette sighed once more, and walked a bit closer to Chat, so she was roughly underneath him. Trying to pull a cute face, she asked, "You couldn't give your princess a hint, could you?"

Another smug smirk appeared on the cat's face. "Already asking for help? I guess I'm too much of an enigma for you." His teasing was over the top, as per usual, but something about him, how full of himself he was being, knowing full well she was struggling to figure out who he was, annoyed Marinette even further.

"When I find out who you are, you are getting such a punch."

"And I'll be better for it, and I'll kiss you as reward. Fair trade?" Chat snickered to himself. "Alrighty then, Princess... Behind this mask of mine, you and I, we're friends. Heck, we spoke today. That should narrow down your options."

One of her friends, and someone she had spoken to today... Taking into account the boys in her class she spoke to, that narrowed it down to Nino, Nathaniel, and Adrien. She had spoken with Nino about Adrien, although her heart wasn't totally in the conversation. She had conversed with Nathaniel about his artwork once again, after seeing a sketch of Ladybug he had done, which secretly flattered her, and Adrien, whom had initiated a conversation with her, asking her about her designs again. Everyone else had been either too busy, or Marinette just hadn't spoken to them.

One of those three...

"Helpful?" Chat asked, an eyebrow raised.

"That... Narrows it down." Marinette said, echoing what Chat had said to her.

Behind that mask was Nino, Adrien, or Nathaniel.

Now she just had to figure out who was behind that mask.

And she had an idea as to how she was gonna pull that off.

Besides, deep down, she thought she might know who it was.

And she feared the idea it was him.

* * *

 **I can see Chat teasing Marinette despite knowing full well she doesn't have a clue who he is.**

 **The Soul Links are getting closer and closer... When shall I bring them together? Ooooh, not a lot shall be said this day, but I shall bring emotion to you all!**

 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter, as usual, and if you did, be sure to follow my Wattpad, GamingEmpire, for earlier updates, interactivity, and fun times ^_^**

 **Be sure to also follow my YouTube, TheGamingEmpire, for videos on the funnies and the animes.**

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 **As always, the links are in the description, and I'll see you in whatever it is I do indeed decide to write next. See ya!**


	15. What We Earn

There was a big part of Marinette that wanted Chat Noir to have been completely lying to her. that he wasn't in her class. That he wasn't even in her school. that he had lied to her to throw her off. She had made her guess... But she wanted to be wrong. She really did want to be wrong.

Today was Saturday, meaning Chat Noir would be showing up at her home again, acting all smug like he always seemed to do, and expecting an answer from the blue haired girl. He wouldn't even slightly hold back, she knew. He was going to reveal himself to her.

And part of her was looking forward to it. Hypocritical as it may have been, she had always been curious about who was behind that mask. Chat had always mentioned that he longed to know who Ladybug had been behind her mask, and she felt the same about him, but had declined due to fears about safety and security.. It would have been hard not to be curious about his identity. This was a guy who threw himself into danger next to her on a regular basis. Not being at least the tiniest bit curious as to who was doing this so readily, so easily, so willingly, would be absolutely insane.

He had figured out who she was completely by mistake... A very stupid mistake on her part, but it was done now, and nothing would change that. He could have chosen to keep his own identity a secret. He could have done that and Marinette wouldn't have been able to blame him in the slightest. She would have completely understood his choice to do that. She would have respected it. Not doing so would have been massively disrespectful to him.

Despite all of that, however... He had chosen to trust her with who he was. And she would forever be thankful for that.

But at the same time... She was worried about learning who he was. She was praying... Just not him...

Not Adrien.

"Princess~!"

Here he was, welcoming her as usual with his pet name for her. He was behind her, as she looked out at the Paris night time from her rooftop. Credit where it was due, he was very good at sneaking places without making a sound. She wasn't at all surprised. A few times, so suddenly hearing his voice had scared her senseless. Now she was just sort of used to it.

"On time yet again.." She sighed, turning around to face him, as he jumped down from the higher point just atop her roof. "You've been waiting for this for a while, haven't you?"

"Absolutely, my lady." Chat bowed. "I've been waiting for this all week."

"Are you sure you want to do this?" The blunette asked. "I mean... You don't have to. I mean, you're not, you know, required to! I mean..." She took a deep breath. She was just repeating herself. After a quick intake of oxygen, she tried again. "What I'm saying is, you don't need to feel compelled to show me who you actually are just because you know about Ladybug. Like..."

"Relax." Chat Noir said with a smile. "I want you to know. Doesn't really seem fair that I get to know and you don't." It was a simple explanation, but one Marinette accepted.

"I see..."

"Well?" Chat leaned closer towards the blunette girl with his usual grin, showing off his rows of white teeth. "You've had all week, and I gave you a few hints... Have you managed to figure out who this alley cat is?"

Marinette took a step back, and found herself leaning on the railing one the edge of her balcony. She took a sigh and looked at Chat, and looking at him now - Really looking at him - It supported her theory on who he was.

The past week had been a large scale game of Guess who, with Marinette looking desperately for whatever clues she could find of Chat Noir. She had looked at each member of her class closely, and when chat had given her the hint it was one of the boys she had spoken to, she had made it a point to investigate each one closely.

It would have been incredibly easy for Chat Noir's blond hair to be some sort of wig or cheap hair dye that came out with one use, so she never really relied on that knowledge. Of course, she knew the chances of that was unlikely but she never eliminated the possibility, which was why she went over each of her options carefully.

Nino was eradicated from the equation basically immediately. They didn't even sound remotely similar, and the DJ's skin was too dark to be Chat's. Not to mention, she had fought Nino when he was the Bubbler alongside Chat. And the same could be said about Nathaniel.

The only one of those three who Chat Noir and Ladybug hadn't fought against was Adrien.

But that wasn't enough.

But the more she had looked, to more evidence supported Chat being Adrien. The hair, the eyes, their skin, they all matched up. Their voices were somewhat similar when compared. But that hadn't been enough either. Her crush on Adrien, and her feelings for Chat, they could easily be making her correlate things that weren't correlated. Because that being the case... It would have been too perfect.

And right now, perfect was the absolute worst thing Marinette could be hoping for.

She took a deep sigh, and expelled the air in her lungs through a small hole she made with her mouth. "...Is it you, Adrien?"

Chat stared back at her, and there was no noise between the two of them for a few seconds. For a second, Marinette thought that she'd somehow offended Chat, but when he took a step back and started laughing, her worry was erased quickly.

"Ha ha ha!" Chat laughed, rather loudly. He had the biggest grin on his face, and was clutching at the sides of his stomach. Part of it was him being overly dramatic, and Marinette felt the need to call him out on this, but she didn't say anything.

"Chat?"

"You're good, Princess!" Chat congratulated, clapping his hands together twice. "You're good!" He smirked at her and held his arms open. "You got me!" As he said this, his transformation evaporated the tight black suit around him, starting from his feet and rapidly evaporating into magical energy, and back into a tiny black creature, presumably the Kwami Chat used.

There he was.

Adrien Agreste. Chat Noir. He was even wearing his Chat Noir grin. Of course he was. He was Chat Noir.

Tears started welling up in Marinette's eyes.

Why did it have to be him?...

Everything that she'd done to Chat Noir as Ladybug came flooding back to her, like a flood. Every time she had side stepped him. Every time she had blocked him from speaking to her. All those times she had pushed him aside, pushed him away. Sent him to fight the dangerous part of any given fight on his own. All those times she had been rude or a jerk towards him. Leaving him without explanation or reason to her madness...

And then, on the same day, would be basically his adoring fan, watching him from afar, and going out of her way to try to spend time with him, to get to know him, despite pushing him away as Ladybug without even knowing that she had been doing that. Causing him internal pain...

The night she told Chat about her Soul Link... When she had been convinced that it had been Adrien...

And how Adrien had looked like death the next day...

She'd broken him that night, hadn't she? Despite that cheerful person he had put on, for fear of upsetting her, or making her feel guilty... He had put on a brave face, and exploded his emotions at home. And had tried to make sure he was okay the day after... It was like she was beating him with one hand, and trying to heal him with the other.

How terrible a person was she that she let this happen?

All because of her own, moronic, God damned _stupidity_?

"M-Marinette?" Adrien seemed to notice these tears filling her eyes, and began to come close to a panic. "Are - Are you alright?" Was she really that upset it was him? He was convinced that she liked him.

"I'm sorry..." She said quietly, trying to dry her eyes.

"What - What are you sorry for?!"

"I'm an idiot..." She whispered to herself, her teeth gritted. "I'm such an _idiot_... You were right there, all along, every sign pointing at you... And I... I..." Her arm blocked her blue eyes, but Adrien could see the tears escaping and running down her cheek. She was being battered by heavy guilt, regret, despair, for mistakes that weren't even really her own. "I'm so sorry..."

"Are you... You mean that night we talked about the Links?..." Adrien asked. He didn't get a coherent response, so he came to conclude that yes, indeed, that was why she was crying now. "Oh, Marinette..."

He never held it against Ladybug. He never blamed her. He never once thought it was her fault. Not once. How could he?

"I'm so sorry..." Marinette sobbed through clenched teeth.

She blamed herself. She was never not going to blame herself.

Adrien knew Marinette. Chat knew her, and he had come to understand her, the kind of person she was. He had come to like her. To crush on her. To love her. Seeing her like this...

Acting on an impulse, he hugged her as tightly as her could, which stopped her sobs, mostly out of sheer surprise of his actions. Her arm wasn't in a comfortable position, and her other arm just hug by her side, but she didn't even register, nor care, about this particular facts. Tears still rand down her eyes, but she didn't make a single sound.

"How can you blame yourself for something like that, Marinette?" Adrien asked. He wasn't prying, nor was he demanding an answer. "I never thought it was your fault. I couldn't hold it against you even if I wanted to. You were following what your Soul Link told you. I did the same thing. There isn't anything wrong with that."

"I - I hurt you..."

"And it stund like hell, you're right. It did hurt." Adrien admitted to her, and for a second, he thought she was about to start crying again, so he quickly added the next part to his sentence, "But... Without that pain, we might not have wound up in this situation. I may never have given up on Ladybug, and never found Marinette. I may never have found out about this amazing, this talented, this... Beautiful person." He pushed her back just a little bit, so he could see her face again. "I would have never found you, Marinette. I would have found Ladybug, not the amazing person behind that mask."

That comment made Marinette smile a bit, but she was still wrecked by guilt. "You say all of that... But I ended up falling for Chat Noir..." It made her feel vain. Adrien had given her a heartfelt rant about how he had met her... Someone he found amazing... And she had just fallen in love with a superhero. How many other girls in this same city would say the same thing?...

"And have you ever seen me act like Chat Noir without that mask of mine?" Adrien asked with a soft smile and tone. He rested his forehead on hers, which made both of them blush at such a short distance being closed between them. "You saw my wild side, my repressed side, the part of me that never gets to shine... And you fell in love with that? And you liked me even before then... Marinette, you're the only person on this Earth that has ever seen all of me, and said you liked me afterwards." He then told her, "Don't feel ashamed about anything that you've felt or done."

"Adrien..."

"Marinette, you make me happy. You have no idea how happy you make me feel..." Adrien said, with absolute conviction. He hid nothing. He held nothing back. Every word he uttered was from the bottom of his heart, and he would stand by it for the rest of his life.

The blunette girl could cry again, out of her happiness. She had dreaded the possibility of Adrien being Chat Noir... But it had ended up like this... She could cry...

Although...

"Thank you, Adrien... Thank you... But... I do have something I need to give you."

"Yeah? What's - "

He was suddenly cut off by a fist slamming into the left side of his body, just under his rib-cage. The shock knocked the air out of the model, and he backed up away from Marinette. She hadn't held back. She had fully gone through with the strike, aiming to hurt him, at least a little.

"That's for toying with me for the past week!" She yelled at him. She wasn't angry, nor did she mean any sort of malice. But she had said she was going to punch him, and she had damn well meant it. Fueled by emotions, at this point, she was pretty much going for whatever crossed her mind.

"Okay..." Adrien gasped out with a wheeze. "Okay... Yep. I deserved that." He chuckled, still grabbing the impact site of his lower rib-cage. "You certainly keep your promises, my lady."

"You earned that."

"Yep. Fair enough." He grinned. He didn't hold it against her. She _had_ warned him, to her credit.

"And I earned _this_." Once more fueled by adrenaline and emotion, Marinette grabbed both of Adrien's cheeks and, in a move of uncharacteristic confidence, pulled him closer to her, and pressed her lips against his.

She was met with no resistance whatsoever.

* * *

 **Ohohohohoho... again, sorry for missing a day's upload yesterday. I was at a party with a friend I rarely get to see, so, yeah. sort of had to weigh up the pros and cons of that, so i figured I'd give you guys fluff central.**

 **While** **this would be a good leaving off point for Soul Link... I want to keep going, so I may need a few ideas from you guys if you have any suggestions. I'd also like to inform you guys that my Traits/Superpowers AU is coming along nicely, and I posted a 2,000 word preview of the first chapter on my Tumblr, which you should go follow. GamingEmpire.**

 **You can also follow my Youtube, for videos and anime stuff, at TheGamingEmpire.**

 **Also, be sure to follow my Wattpad, Gamingempire. I'm nearly at 100 followers, which would be amazing to reach.**

 **Links to everything are in the description, and I'll see you in whatever it is I do indeed decide to write next. See ya guys!**


	16. I Liked it - I Like You

"You're telling me we transformed literally across the street from each other?"

"Roughly. Where were you?"

"I was just in the alley behind the cinema."

"The one that you can see Cacaolate Cafe?"

"That's it."

Adrien sighed and allowed himself to laugh at the fact that the two of them were blind as bats, apparently. He wondered how many close calls the two of them had had over the past year, and how close they had come to learning who the other one was without ever realizing it. How many close calls there had been. How differently things could have gone down for them. "Yeah, we were barely even ten meters away from each other. That says it all, doesn't it? I feel like an idiot."

Marinette smiled along with Adrien and laughed lightly. The two of them had continued their discussion the next day, after agreeing to meet at their normal patrolling meet up point. after having done a very quick lap around their usual route, during which they were far more distracted with each other than they were with actually looking for any sort of event that required their attention. They were lucky that no such crime was being committed that night. Once they had finished their round, they had de-transformed at sat on top of a building that was away from any prying eyes, and had picked up their discussion.

Marinette in particular had been extraordinarily nervous. The previous night, she had been totally fueled by raw emotion, and had kissed Adrien while she was riding high on that. She hadn't been pushed off, or anything even close to that. Adrien had basically accepted it. He hadn't brought it up tonight though either, which Marinette wasn't sure what to make of.

"I'm still getting over the fact that you're my lady." Adrien said with a grin on his face. A lot of his features were covered up by darkness due to the lack of light, but Marinette was able to make out that smile he had. "It's been over a week, and I'm still reeling from it."

"You had way too much fun this past few weeks..."Marinette responded. She had gone over all the interactions they had had when he was Chat Noir. She had to give him credit, he was a good actor. When he saw the photos of him she had in her room, he hadn't missed a beat. He'd kept going on like he had barely even registered them. It occurred to her that, really, he'd just been stroking his ego.

"Plagg said the same thing." Adrien commented, pointing to the black Kwami hovering behind him.

"And you got punched in the gut because you didn't heed my warning." Plagg reminded him dryly.

"Worth it."

Sighing to herself, Marinette decided to press the conversation forward. There were questions that they had just not answered, and facts they had pretty much just glossed over or totally ignored. She wasn't sure what Adrien felt, but she needed answers. "So... Now what happens?"

Looking at her with his green eyes, Adrien bit his thumb and considered. "Regarding what?"

"Well... Everything. Me... You. Ladybug and Chat Noir..."

"That kiss?" Adrien added with another toothy grin, knowing full well he was adding fuel to the fire. When he got a huge burning crimson blush from Marinette, he had reached his target. "Yeah... I guess we should talk about that sort of thing, huh?"

Nodding silently, Marinette agreed.

"Well, I don't see much reason for anything regarding Ladybug and Chat Noir to change." Adrien told the blunette girl. "Far as the city knows, we're still partners, and as far as I know, we still are?..."

"It's not like I get much of a choice..." Marinette jokingly commented, but was half serious about what she said. Had she the choice to put Adrien out of harms way, she probably would do so, but that wasn't within her power. Her sentence came out as sassy more than it did worried.

"You wound me, Princess." Adrien smirked, using Chat's pet name for Marinette for the first time as Adrien.

It helped hit it home for Marinette that Adrien really was Chat Noir, a fact her brain still hadn't fully processed yet. Of course, Adrien understood that, so of course, he had gone out of his way to make jokes and tease her, just like Chat did. He seemed now to be a bit of a combination of the two of his personas, which Marinette concluded was the real personality he had. But all the same, she still wasn't used to hearing his nicknames, his jokes, hell, even his Kwami being around was weird to the fashion designer.

But simultaneously... It was a perfect combination of the two of them.

"So we're still partners," Adrien continued. "And I doubt you'd like to make a public declaration of out love for one another, would you, Ladybug?" He put on as close to Chat's voice as he could, and bowed grandly.

'He's even acting like Chat does. He's enjoying this way too much.' Marinette smirked herself, and said, "Oh, I don't know. That might be romantic! Imagine seeing everyone's faces as they realize that the heroes of their beloved city are beloved themselves to one another."

Judging by the look on Adrien's face after that sentence, he was imagining that, and had to quickly look after from her before he went dark crimson. "S-So no announcement... Got it..."

"You suddenly became quiet."

"You're enjoying this."

"Very much so. It's like revenge for all those times you flirted and embarrassed me in from of that cameras, _Chat Noir._ "

The blond model couldn't help but notice just how back and forth the two of them seemed to be going. He would be leading and in charge of the conversation, and then Marinette would, and then he would, and before he even got a word out, Marinette would be back in the lead.

She was _definitely_ Ladybug.

"Well, that pretty much answers the majority of my questions." Adrien said, before turning a bit red. "So... That kiss."

Adrien had liked the kiss. He wouldn't lie about that. He had liked it. Enjoyed it. He hadn't expected it from Marinette, of all people, that was for sure. Normally shy, always reserved, especially around him.

And she had kissed him. He didn't know what was going through her head, but he sure as hell wanted it to stay in her head. For a very long time. Which was just a very roundabout way of him admitting he wanted to kiss her again.

On the other hand, Marinette was just being completely silent, crimson red and barely even responding. She was looking at the floor, and had grabbed two small bundles of her hair, and was covering her cheeks with them in an effort to hide her blush.

"U-Um... " Marinette swallowed hard, before she unleashed the floodgates. "I - I don't know why I - I mean, I didn't think - I mean, oh God, I'm really, really sorry, A-Adrien!"

"Sorry? What're you sorry for?" Adrien asked, stifling laughed with his hands. "Did you forget that I was gonna kiss you before I set up my little game with you?"

"That was before I knew it was you though!"

"So kissing me was a _bad_ thing?"

"No! I - Damn it, stop trying to confuse me!"

"Then stop thinking that you did something wrong." Smiled the blond haired boy. "I didn't hate it at all. I _liked_ it. I like _you_. I wouldn't be here if I didn't."

* * *

Complete.

That was the final message the miraculous gave Adrien that night. The very second he entered his moment and his room, his miraculous glowed a bright, blinding light, and sent the message, projected clearly onto his wall. the single word said everything that Adrien needed to know that night.

The Soul Link between him and Marinette was cemented. Established.

It was real.

"This is real, right Plagg?" Adrien asked with a happy sigh. "I'm not gonna wake up in five minutes and realize this has all been a dream?"

"That would wipe me from existence..." Plagg lamented. "...I hope it is. You two being so lovey dovey all the freakin' time is gonna drive me mad."

"Glad you're so supportive of me and Marinette."

"Against my will."

"You could at least try to act a bit more like you don't care." Adrien smirked, seeing through his Kwami partners acting. "Come on, admit it, you're happy for me."

"Your ego is big enough, kid. I don't need to add to that."

"You couldn't just indulge me for once?"

Plagg joked, but he was genuinely happy that Adrien had finally figured out that Marinette was his Soul Mate. The black Kwami had to admit, he was surprised at the revelation that Marinette was Ladybug. He hadn't expected it to be someone as timid as her. "I indulge you enough as it is."

Adrien let out another chuckle. Marinette is Ladybug. That was still so difficult to get his head around... And she liked him... That was just as difficult.

She had kissed him... He hadn't even fully registered that one.

And then, she had agreed to a date.

The blond model grinned to himself. "Alya and Nino're gonna have fun with this one, aren't they?"

* * *

 **Okay, so I got this...**

 **Okay guys, I want to level with you. This story to me, is winding down. I'm running seriously low on my ideas, and while I love the universe I have here, I can't do that without ideas. I reckon I've got maybe three more chapters of idea's in me, and this one in itself was a struggle to get through, which is why it's shorter. Chat Out Of The Bag worked because it had this story that just evolved naturally. This story, I'm worried that it'll wind up becoming generic if I don't keep my idea's going. I basically have a bad case of writers block regarding this story.**

 **So - I want ideas from you guys. The thoughts you guys are having, what you all want to see, how much of it you want to see, and what you think about the story. Do you love it, do you hate it (Although if you hate it, I question how you're 16 chapters in)? What do you want to see happen?**

 **At this rate, Chapter 20 could be the final chapter I have in me.**

 **On the GOOD side however... I have my first Trait's chapter finished. For that story, I want to do a chapter focusing on each Adrien and Marinette's backstories.** **And if Soul Link DOES end, I'll be moving on to my Reverse Crush story idea. So I'll have more coming for you guys ^_^**

 **Either way, I do hope you enjoyed this chapter. If you did, be sure to follow my Wattpad, GamingEmpire, for earlier uploads, interactivity, and original projects. Five away from 100 - Can we do it before the month ends?!**

 **You can also subscribe to my YouTube, TheGamingEmpire, for game videos and anime stuff, and funny work ^_^**

 **You can also follow my Tumblr, GamingEmpire - and I HIGHLY recommend it. I recently uploaded two images of Adrien and Marinette from my Traits work I'd LOVE you guys to see and respond to ^_^**

 **Links** **to everything are in the profile description, and I will see you in whatever it is I do indeed decide to make next. See ya!**


	17. Keep It Quiet

"Wait, wait, wait up, Marinette." Alya looked absolutely gobsmacked, her mouth ajar, staring at her blue haired best friend who was red at the cheeks. "Back up. Rewind that for me for a sec girl." She leaned towards Marinette, her eyes narrowing as she did so. "Adrien asked you on a date?"

Marinette nodded, still blushing. "Yep..."

"As in, a date date?"

"Yes..."

"As in, the 'Hand-holding, romantic-moonlit-dinner type date?"

"What other kinds of dates _are_ there?"

"I don't know! I'm just a little blown away right now, M!" Alya squealed and hugged her best friend tightly. "Tell me you said yes!"

"Of course I did." Marinette told her with a smile, and patting her on the back as she was hugged.

This earned yet another squeal from Alya, and she squeezed Mairnette even tighter before letting her go, her eyes sparkling like a young child's. Mairnette could have easily mistaken Alya for being more excited than she herself was. "How did this even happen?! What happened! Gimme deets, girl!"

Marinette chuckled nervously. She and Adrien had come up with a cover-up story to tell anyone who asked, as long as those particular people weren't their parents. "Um, he - He came over to my parents bakery, and - And we just ran into each other and talked and - Um, he then asked me if I wanted to go out with him."

It seemed to be enough for Alya to believe, and she seemed to bubble over in excitement, and even did a few hops of joy on the spot. She had been the one person Marinette had totally confided in regarding her crush on Adrien. Others knew about it, sure, but the red ahired blogger was the only one who knew everything straight from the blue haired, awkward, shy source. Alya had been huge on trying to force her crushing friend into interactions with Adrien, often against Marinette's will, mostly out of frustration of her friend's antics. Marinette had always been thankful for those pushes, so she felt Alya deserved to know of her upcoming date with Adrien.

"So, where is Prince Charming taking you?" Alya asked.

"I um... I think we're going to a funfair. It was um, my idea, actually."

"Yours?" Alya shot her a glance that said, ' _Of all the places, a funfair?'_ Marinette didn't particularly think there was anything wrong with the idea, but Alya apparently disagreed.

"W-Well, he said he'd never gotten to go to one before because of his father, so I thought..."

"You can't get all dressed up to go to a funfair, girl."

"We weren't really planning to get all done up for it..." There wasn't much of a point in doing so. Both of them knew about the Soul Links, both of them knew how long they had really been together behind those masks they wore, and both of them already knew they loved the other. They had kissed beforehand once already. There wasn't really a need to get dressed all fancy for it. "B-Besides, Adrien's a model... I - don't you think he'd be tired of getting all dressed up for things."

"Girl, you have had your eyes on him for the last year, and now you've got a _date_ with him. I am _not_ letting you go out without making sure you look as damn cute as a kitten in a slipper."

Marinette had to laugh, both at the analogy her best friend used, and the reminder that Adrien was Chat Noir. She had unknowingly made a double joke.

Holy crap, if _Alya_ knew she was going on a date with _Chat Noir..._

"I ain't messing around, Marinette. Seriously, how're we doin' this? I'm thinking curls for your hair. It's long enough for them."

"We - We're not going until Wednesday!" Wednesday being the day that they had half the average school day made for the best night for them to go out on their date, they had both agreed.

"You still need to prepare!" Alya said, skimming through her phone, showing Marinette various hairstyles that she could try out. "Oh man, Chloe is gonna freak when she hears about this."

"Which is why I'm really hoping she doesn't." Chloe finding out about their date had to be up there on the list of worst ways to ruin the night. Marinette had prayed to every God known to mankind that that didn't happen. Knowing her luck though, the Gods had probably all gone bowling, and she'd find herself with Adrien confronted by an enraged rich snob of a girl.

"My lips are sealed outside this room, girl. I won't breathe a word of this to _anyone_."

"You'd better not." Marinette warned, with some sass in her voice. "Or I may have to inform Nino of a particular - "

"Stop _right_ there, Marinette." Alya cut off her friend, her face turning serious, pointing directly at her blue haired friend.

Marinette just laughed.

* * *

"Bro, you're serious?" Nino asked his friend with her eyes wider than usual. In his hands, he was dabbing a handle into a bubble mixture container absentmindedly as he conversed with Adrien, who had just finished telling him about his upcoming date with Marinette. He had been given the same story by Adrien, and he had eaten it up without questioning it.

"Yep." Adrien nodded with a smile on his face, feeling almost a sense of pride in the fact he and Marinette had a date to look forward to.

"You asked her out?"

"A-Yep."

Taking the handle shape out of the mixture, Nino blew a few large bubbles into the air in front of him. He ended up with four smaller ones and two larger ones. "Damn dude... Nice one. I didn't know you were interested in Marinette."

"I, uh.." Damn it. "Yeah, man... I've just - You know, I've been quiet about it." Technically, it wasn't a lie. It was maybe a half truth at best, and a half lie at worst.

"Not anymore though." Nino commented, blowing another group of bubbles into the air, and watching them as the floated off.

"That's true.." Adrien sighed. Him dating Marinette would be news, at least within their school. They wouldn't have secrecy regarding their relationship for very long. Adrien had been more focused on the actual date than the events surrounding it.

"Bud, I think every girl in the city is gonna have fire in their eyes."

That wasn't really Adrien's problem though, so he shrugged it off. Those girls had celebrity crushes, petty ones that meant nothing, nothing like what he and Marinette shared. They'd get over it in about a few hours and then go on to having a crush on the next model that showed up. "They'll get over it." He vocally repeated, rather coldly, but understandably, to his friend, who looked at him.

"Yeah... I guess... Still, I guess you don't want people to know about you two, least for a bit?"

An awkward smile made it's way onto the blond boys lips. "Do you mind?"

"No one's hearing it from me, Adrien, don't worry about it."

"Thanks, man." Adrien sighed with relief. "We're going to the funfair one Wednesday, so I'm guessing casual wear?"

"What're you asking me for?" Adrien's friend asked, looking half baffled, half amused. "You're the model here, dude."

"I've never been to a funfair! For all I know, you guys go to them with top hats, canes and tap dancing shoes! I've got a date at one in a few days, and I don't want look like I'm about to break into song here!"

Nino smirked to himself. "Relax. You're right, casual wear. Maybe a nice jacket or something, you'll have plenty of those, right?"

"Right..." Nino was referring to his father being a fashion designer. He had a few jackets, but none he'd call particularly nice. Stylish, yes. Fashionable, yes. Expensive, yes. But nothing that he could wear that was just... Well, him. Everything he had was either brightly colored, or looked more like a tuxedo than it did a hoodie.

"Just relax dude. Marinette's been crazy about you for ages now. You'll be fine." Nino reassured his friend, with a less-than-gentle pat on the back.

"Ooof! Thanks. Hey, since I asked Marinette out, maybe I should force you to ask out Alya."

"That - You don't need to go that far, bro!"

"I dunno. Could be fun." Adrien smirked.

* * *

Classes that the two superheroes shared had devolved somewhat for the two of them, into them both stealing whatever glances they could get of the other. both seemed to be doing it, and neither of them particularly minded, but they had to make sure they didn't stare long enough, for fear of being noticed by their teachers and their classmates.

For Adrien, it was a lot harder, since he had to turn a full one hundred-eighty degrees. He got caught a couple of times, but that didn't stop him from stealing glances whenever he could.

By the fifth lesson of the day, which was their final one for the day, Adrien came into his class to find Alya sat by Nino, where he usually sat.

He got the hint in about five seconds.

Him sat next to Marinette definitely did not go unnoticed, however. He got himself a lot of attention he didn't expect to have gotten, and attention he hadn't particularly wanted.

Although for him, right now, that wasn't his primary concern. Right now, finding himself staring at Marinette, he found himself flustered and thinking of an excuse to tell her when she finally called him out on it.

* * *

 **Thanks to the feedback I've gotten from you guys, I've got a couple more ideas to fill the pages, but I'm considering ending Soul Link at chapter 20. Unless you guys can convince me to keep it going. I don't want this story to become another fight against Hawkmoth, since that was the focus of Chat Out Of The Bag, and I know little about Season 2, so I can't go off of anything to do with that either, leaving me with a blank slate, and It's rare for me to go off the canon world. My Superpowers/Traits AU will be my first attempt at it. I'm only confident in that because its a world I set up myself. The feedback given is great though, so I will have a few more chapters ready for you all ^_^ After that, I'll work on Reverse Crush and Traits.**

 **Either way, I hope you've enjoyed this chapter. If you did, be sure to follow my Wattpad, GamingEmpire, for earlier updates, more interactivity, and more fun ^_^**

 **You can also subscribe to my YouTube, TheGamingEmpire, to see games, anime, and find out just how erratic my personality really is.**

 **You can also follow my Tumblr, GamingEmpire, for previews, sneak peaks, a look at the artwork that may or may not be coming up *wink, I said nothing, wink* and more ^_^**

 **Links to everything are in my profile, and I will see you in whatever it is I do indeed decide to write next. See ya!**


	18. Casual Clothing Conundrum

Clothes shopping. Certainly not something Adrien would have expected himself to be doing... Well, ever. He lived with a freaking fashion designer, and he was a freaking model. Clothes shopping never really seemed like it was going to be an issue for the blond haired teenager. But seeing as he didn't own anything particularly casual, he'd decided to do a bit of shopping.

He was just looking for something like a grey hoodie. Something very casual, like Nino has suggested. He'd spotted a few that caught his eye rather quickly, but at the same time, he wanted to put _some_ effort in, and these hoodies looked like they'd been pulled out of a garbage tip.

"How is it possible to fail at shopping for casual clothes?..." Adrien muttered to himself, before stepping outside the store he was in and re-entering the streets.

"Is the model having some trouble lowering himself to the common man's height?" Plagg taunted from inside Adrien's jacket. He was rested just underneath his human partner's collar, so he could be heard clearly by Adrien, but not seen.

"I'm not exactly used to buying clothes myself." The blond teenager said with an irritated sigh. "I'm a model. Father throws some clothes at me, tells me to wear them, I wear them, and I strike a pose for the cameras. I don't really choose my own clothing. this is the first time I've actually had the choice... And I've got no idea how to pick something out."

"Do you think Marinette would seriously mind you showing up in whatever?"

"That's not the point. I want to show her I'm at least trying to make an effort here."

"So go in the tux."

"To a freaking funfair?"

"Why not?"

"You... Exasperate me sometimes, Plagg. You really do."

"How d'ya think I feel, kid? I've got to put up with you going on about Marinette every waking minute of the day now! I swear you're the only kid on this rock who puts this much thinking into their _casual_ appearance!"

"You don't know people these days too well then." Adrien sighed. He walked down the street a bit further until he came across another clothes shop. Taking a step inside, he found just the sort of jacket he had been looking for within just a few moments. At a rather reasonable price of about twenty-five Euros, Adrien had purchased a dark grey hoodie. Something casual, that didn't stand out too much, but at the same time, still looked nice, and showed he was trying to look nice.

That task completed, the teenage boy made his way back to his house, his recently purchased article of clothing in a bag in his hand. It was weird to Adrien, to feel so absolutely carefree and happy about things. Normally he had to deal with a mountainous pile of stress and worry, from his modelling work, to being Chat Noir, to getting basic school work done and everything in between.

Him feeling this good, this undeniably good about everything around him, everything that was happening to him... He was beyond certain it couldn't be real. But it was. And that made it all so much better for the boy. He would have started skipping his way home were he not in public, and was sorely tempted to anyway.

* * *

Adrien dared not tell his father about his date with Marinette, for fear he would disapprove and refuse to let him actually go on said date come Wednesday. He wasn't prepared to risk that possibility happening. Instead, he had told his father that he was going to a friends to work on a school project, and that Marinette's house had all the supplies they needed to finish the project.

Since Gabriel only fleetingly knew Marinette, he seemed to accept that excuse, under the condition that Adrien be back no later than 11PM, and that he would send Gorilla with one of their vehicles should Adrien be there that late. It had been a lot more lenient than the blond Parisian had been expecting, so he accepted those conditions readily.

He doubted that they would actually be at the funfair for that long, but that was good all the same. That gave them the time they needed to get back to Marinette's house and do...

...Whatever it was they would end up doing at Marinette's house.

"Are you gonna want me to be coming along with you, kid?" Plagg asked, hovering above Adrien's computer monitor. He was currently skimming through various emails he had received during the day, the vast majority of them spam mail.

The honest truth was Adrien didn't want Plagg around on their date, but if something happened that needed Chat Noir... "I guess we don't really have much of a choice." Adrien commented with a sigh. "It's too dangerous to not take you along."

"Great." Plagg commented with sarcasm. "Another night of listening to you two lovebirds. I already feel sick."

"It's a shame I need you to actually merge with me to use my powers." Adrien smirked. "Otherwise I could just completely forgo you altogether."

"As long as you kept me fed, I wouldn't care."

"I know you wouldn't, buddy. I know you wouldn't." As Adrien said this, he skimmed through his messages on his social media pages, finding Marinette's account. He typed a quick message saying everything was sorted out on his end ready for Wednesday, as well as giving her the conditions his father had set for him. She wasn't online when he sent the message, probably out with Alya or someone else. He added a heart at the end of his message. Just for the hell of it.

* * *

 **I... Know that this chapter was short. I know it was unsatisfying... But there's literally nothing else that I've got ;-; Not for this chapter. I've decided Ill keep Soul Link going for a little bit longer, thanks to some great ideas you guys have been offering, but I'm still in need of some more from you guys.**

 **Big thank you to DarkFirefillsme on Wattpad for a huge paragraph of responses and ideas. If you're on Wattpad reading this, go and find his comment, because that is the level of feedback that has inspired me to keep this story going just a little bit longer. Thank you very much good sir, that was all highly appreciated ^_^**

 **Also, shout out to Charmfeather on , for a similar paragraph of ideas. You've given me a few pointers i didn't think of, and i may take them on board.**

 **Also, bit of news, my Superpowers/Traits AU is finally out!, It's called Miraculous: Dangerous Mutant, Gifted Girl - Superpowers-Traits AU, You can find it on and Wattpad. I would _PERSONALLY_ recommend finding it on my Wattpad, GamingEmpire, because there is going to be artwork on there, and I'd love you all to see that . there will be little comic strips on it and the likes, and while it'll make the chapters take longer to write, it'll improve the experience, I feel. The choice however, is yours ^_^**

 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter - not gonna leave my links because I feel I dont deserve to due to my lack of stuff to write in this chapter, but if you're interested, the other chapters should have the links, as should my profile description.**

 **I'll do better next chapter, I promise ^_^'**


	19. Day Of The Date

Marinette hadn't heard the end of Alya since she had told her about the date she had with Adrien. She was convinced her tan-skinned friend was more excited about the date than she herself was. The blogger claimed that the past year of forcing Marinette into social situations regarding Adrien finally seemed to have paid off. Mairnette knew that it was to do with the Soul Links, and not much else, but she was content to let her friend think that way.

While Marinette knew and completely understood, and was thankful for Alya's support and help, her constant asking about was getting embarrassing for the blunette, to the point where she wound up having to ask Alya to stop.

She should have known that wouldn't work.

"You realize I'm never letting this drop, right girl?"

With a sigh, Marinette nodded. "I had a feeling you wouldn't..." Today was Wednesday, and their final class for the day seemed to be dragging out as slow as physically possible, but it was almost done. Almost over. The week had gone by at the speed of a snail, dragging out everything as much as possible, before time would snap back to a move, allowing Marinette to carry on with things.

She had been looking forward to today for, quite frankly, far too long as far as she was concerned, but at the same time, she was nervous as hell, yet at the same time, she was totally relaxed about it in a combination she could not even begin to comprehend. She was nervous because she was going on a _date_ with Adrien - _Adrien_ \- Of all people, and relaxed in the sense that she already knew how she felt about him, and how he felt about her. Conflicting emotions like this just further compounded the poor girl's confusion and beating heart-rate.

Alya and Nino had switched seats with Adrien and Marinette basically for the entirety of the week, forcing both the two lovable idiots to sit by one another. It had been Alya's idea, of course, but she had swapped back because she had wanted to arrange and speak with Marinette about how they were going to doll up the blue haired girl. Marinette had assumed she had been joking. She hadn't been.

"Just a couple minutes to go, girl."

"I hope so." Marinette confessed, scribbling on her work-pad absent minded, not really taking in the information as much as she was just copying it. Two minutes might as well be an hour to Marinette in her current frame of thought. "I think I'm gonna go insane if I end up waiting much longer."

Eventually however, those few minutes passed, and Marinette was saved by the bell. Everyone rose from their seats, pushing various things back into their bags and collecting their various applicants like pencils and rulers, and all eagerly leaving the classroom. Many of them had clubs that went on after school on Fridays, since it was the best time for them. Adrien also had Basketball practice today, which he was going to now. That only lasted an hour, and they had arranged to meet at around 6PM that night.

Leaving the room, Adrien shot Marinette a smile from the corner of his mouth, before he disappeared behind the door frame. The action didn't go unnoticed by Alya. "Damn girl. He seems into you."

Marinette blushed, not really having anything she could say that would get her out of this situation. "Shut up."

Patting her friend on the top of her head, Alya smiled herself. "Come on, let's go get you ready."

* * *

While no one expected them to go out looking like a gentleman and a lady when going to a funfair, a place known for fairground rides and carnival games, Marinette had put in some special effort, because she wanted to look nice for Adrien - For Chat. It was still weird to her that they were both the same person. She shuddered, remembering how close Chat had been to kissing her in this very room not too long ago, and how badly she had wanted it.

And then she had basically stolen it from Adrien. A dark flush came across her cheeks.

"You alright, Mari?" Alya asked from behind the blue haired girl, a pair of straighteners in her right hand, and a hairbrush in the other.

"Y-Yeah, sorry Alya."

"Still nervous?"

"Of course I am."

"Worry not, my dear baker's daughter! I'll make you so cute even the girls at this funfair will be tripping up over you! Adrien won't be able to resist you!" Alya said rather dramatically, while using the hair-straighteners to make Marinette's hair curl around the rapidly heating up object. Marinette knew Alya had a flare for the dramatic, but she normally kept that side to her for when she was dealing with younger kids.

"Are you making fun of me?" Marinette asked, pouting like a small child would.

"Maybe just a little bit. But you gotta relax, girl."

"That's the thing. I already am relaxed."

"How can you be nervous and relaxed?"

"Can I let you know when I figure out how myself?" Marinette asked as she scanned over the clothes she had laid out for herself. They included nothing too special, but she had made them herself, because she wanted them to be perfect for her. It was basically a long, dark blue dress, which cut off at the knees, but was also designed to be something that you'd normally see someone wearing in the public anyway. Getting the right balance between the two had been rather tricky, but Marinette had gotten the idea right within a night, so she was pleased with herself. Making it had taken slightly longer, only having finished it a couple of hours ago.

"Sure thing." Alya said, curling another clump of Marinette's hair. She wasn't keeping it in her regular pigtails. Rather, she was keeping them off, allowing her hair to freely run around her head, like a shorter bouffant cut. At least, that was the idea that Alya was saying. Marinette trusted her, but this was a very poor time for her to trust Alya, fearing one mistake could ruin her looks for the entire night. "Just try to be more relaxed than nervous when Adrien gets here."

"I'll let you know if I can control that." Marinette sassily muttered to her best friend.

"Okay, I should be about... Done with this last load of hair... Okay, your hair is finished, Mari." Alya declared, stepping back from her work. She took out her phone, and took a couple of pictures quickly, and then pulled them up on her photo gallery, and showed them to Marinette, proud of the results. "What d'ya think? Come on, I'm not bad, am I?"

The curls were a style Marinette had never really touched before, so she had to admit, she was surprised by how well it seemed to look on her. Her hair in certain places was so dark it looked essentially black, but she had to admit, she did look good.

All that was left was her dress.

* * *

Having showered and freshened himself up, Adrien changed into the clothes he had bought a few nights ago. He looked good. Well, by model standards he looked somewhat scruffy, but seeing as this was a date, he figured that didn't matter so much. He tucked Plagg into his jackets pocket, and filled said pocket up with small cheese shapes of various variety, to keep the Kwami quiet and satisfied with the rake of cheesy benefits he made from tonight.

He messed with some hair, and rubbed some product onto his blond head with his hands, giving him that slightly spiky, swayed-to-one-side look he was famous for having. _Now_ he looked good.

He took a deep breath before he left his room, calming himself before he made his way to Marinette's house. He knew the route off by heart, so getting there wouldn't take him long. He left ten minutes earlier than he should have though, just so he could take a short walk to clear his head before actually going to pick up Marinette.

On his way out, however, he walked past Nathalie. She looked at him. She knew exactly what he was doing, but simply assumed Gabriel had permitted it, so she didn't say a word. She just walked straight past him.

Adrien sighed, and left the estate. He wondered aimlessly for a few minutes, trying to calm his nerves and beating heart. He knew he had nothing to worry about, really. They had already basically confessed their feelings for one another, hadn't they? They already knew how the other one felt. Why was he nervous?

Of screwing up. Of embarrassing himself. Or embarrassing her. Of her realizing just how much of an idiot he really was. Of her seeing that he wasn't much more than a pretty face. Those all came to he was going out with anyone else, he probably would have let those worries sway him.

But he knew Marinette. He knew Ladybug. He knew that she wasn't that sort of vain person. She cared about other people. She noticed when others put some effort into things. She was a caring, loving, soft person. It wasn't like a few completely hypothetical situations would make her change her mind about Adrien.

Would they?

"Stop being paranoid, Adrien." He reminded himself, tapping his knuckles against his temple a couple of times. If he was Chat Noir, he'd be taking this with stride, probably. Now that she knew it was him under the mask, maybe now she could make him flustered.

He took a sharp intake of breath as he made his way towards Marinette's house. His hands were sweating lightly, but he didn't notice too much. He focused only on getting there on time. If he kept up this pace, he'd get there, no issues.

"Adrien?"

Turning his head rapidly and instantly upon hearing his name, Adrien made eye contact with Alya. He hadn't even noticed her, but she was stood only about a meter to the right of him, walking in the exact opposite direction to where he was. "A-Alya?"

She quickly scanned him over. "You look all dressed up." Alya complimented with a smug-looking smile, noting that he seemed slightly more rugged than he normally looked. For someone of Adrien's standing, looking just a tiny bit worse than normal was actually a good thing. "Going somewhere important?" As far as the tanned girl was aware, Marinette hadn't told Adrien that she had told her about their date, and the look on the blond Parisian's face simply confirmed it.

"I- Uh... I'm, uh... I'm meeting someone." Adrien said, not lying, not saying everything. He was reluctant to tell Alya. He had pushed the boundaries telling Nino, and he wasn't sure if Marinette would be okay with him telling Alya about them, of all people. That was up to her to decide...

"Oh? Someone special?" Alya asked, placing a hand on her hips, her insinuation clear.

"You could say that..."

"Well, you look good." Alya complimented, before carrying on walking. "Have fun."

Adrien sighed in relief.

"Oh - And I'll expect Marinette to be calling me later to tell me all about how you two hooked up! Don't do anything indecent to my bestie, Agreste!"

The blogger could have sworn she heard Adrien's skin sizzle with the increased heat his face gained, and that she saw steam shoot from his head. She smirked to herself and got out of sight.

* * *

Seeing Marinette when he called for her, Adrien had been absolutely and completely gobsmacked.

She was _freaking_ _beautiful_.

She had always been cute, yes, but damn, this was a whole new level, even for Marinette.

She had done just enough to call this getting dressed up, but had also managed to keep the casual look one would expect from something as trivial as a funfair date.

Her beautiful blue hair was done in curls Adrien hadn't been able to envision being on Marinette before, but they looked adorable. He hadn't seen her before, not when she wasn't wearing pigtails, and he think he preferred seeing her like that, because her hair alone was absolutely stunning. The dress she wore, no doubt designed by herself, since Adrien couldn't see any designer tags, signatures, or anything else that would normally give away a professional designers work, complimented both her bluebell eyes, and her azure colored hair. How she had managed that spoke volumes to her talent as a fashion designer.

She had the most adorable expression he'd ever seen on her face when she first saw him. She was clearly as nervous as he was, and she was blushing a rosy pink color, but all the same, she had a smile on her face.

Adrien's face, meanwhile, was scarlet.

He had never been more infatuated with Marinette in his entire life.

"M-M-Marinette..." Crap, he was flustered. _'Think of something to say, Agreste, think of something to say...'_

"You - You look...Really... really good..." Was the best he could come up with. His mind drew a complete blank. It didn't help that her parents were right behind her when she showed up. It wasn't that they were intimidating in the slightest, they were two of the warmest people Adrien knew, but despite that, he knew the trope. He had half expected her father to break his wrist the second he had shaken it when he first knocked on the door.

Marinette went a darker shade of red this time, blushing at the compliment she had been given. "Th- thanks... You also do... L-Look good, I mean..."

 _'Oh God, this is awkward as hell.'_ Marinette fretted in her head as the two of them struggled to even look at one another. How was it possible to be so nervous about a date when the two of them had already kissed?!

"So, where are you two going tonight?" Sabine asked, moving the conversation forward for them, seeing how embarrassed the two of them both were.

"Uh, a - A funfair. By one of the riversides..." Marinette said. "Adrien hasn't been to one before, so... I thought that might be fun."

"If you're going to go, you should probably get going." Tom commented, nodding towards the clock they kept over their register. They had apparently spent the last five minutes just gaping at one another without actually saying anything, a fact that caused both of them to go crimson when they realized this.

"R-Right, Papa!" Marinette agreed, quickly making her way to Adrien's side. "I-I-I-Um, we - we'll be back before eleven..."

"Don't worry about that too much." Tom reassured his daughter. "Just make sure you enjoy yourselves, both of you."

"We will, Mr. Dupain, Mrs. Cheng." Adrien said with a slight bow. "Thank you very much."

Exiting the building, Marinette and Adrien both loved the feeling of the cool air hitting them in the face. Both took a deep inhale, and exhaled simultaneously. They looked at one another once again, and bushed further. "S-Sorry I didn't... you know, bring you anything... I thought, you know... It'd get annoying to carry all night if I brought you a bouquet or something..."

"It - It's fine, really." Marinette reassured with a nervous laugh. "I wasn't you know, expecting anything like that or, you know. I was more nervous about you actually showing up or not..."

"I was tempted when I saw Alya coming from your houses direction..." Adrien teased, feeling a bit more comfortable now her parents weren't around.

"I - Um..."

"Relax. I told Nino."

"Wha - Why are you trying to embarrass me over telling Alya then?!"

"Because you're adorable embarrassed. Chat's seen that plenty of times, _M'lady_."

"Do you want another punch, Kitty?"

"But the first one ended so perfectly..." Adrien commented, referring to the kiss. "That reminds me." He said, flattening his hand, and very gently karate-chop-motion playfully hitting her on the forehead, with barely enough force to crumple paper. "That's for not telling me Alya was here. I swear she could have boiled a kettle on my skin with how much I was blushing."

Marinette blushed and playfully slapped his hand away. "We should get going if we're going to get to this funfair sometime this year."

* * *

 **I hope this fluffiness makes up for yesterdays failure of a chapter ^-^'  
I've decided to keep this story going just a liiiiiitle bit longer, but we'll see how things end up going. I've got a couple ideas I want to see what I can do with, but this date will take up a chapter or two, so we'll see how that goes first ^_^ **

**Those of you who saw last chapter will know I uploaded my Traits/Superpowers AU yesterday - I highly recommend reading it, it's my pride and joy right now, so If you are interested in the world I'm building, be sure to go check that out.**

 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and if you did, be sure to follow me on Wattpad, GamingEmpire, for earlier updates, interactivity, and more stuff from me ^_^ My Traits AU has artwork in that story, and Wattpad is the place to check it out if you're interested in that.**

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 **Links to everything are in the profile, and I hope to see you in whatever it is I do indeed decide to make next. See ya!**


	20. A Big Question

"So, how's your throwing arm?"

"Better than most peoples."

Adrien had to smirk at the confidence Marinette was displaying right now, but what was far more amusing to him was the fact that he knew she was right. There was no way in hell she was going to mess this up.

The two of them had found themselves at the funfair, and within moments, they had been called over to a knockdown game. It was basically a set of three pyramids of cans, and you were given three baseballs to throw. If you knocked down every can in the set, you won a prize. The classic carnival game, and the ones that were almost certainly rigged against the player. But never impossible. They had to give the player some semblance of a chance.

The person who owned the stall they were at looked like he had come out of Texas, with a cowboy hat and an empty holster, probably part of his uniform for the carnival. He had probably called the two of them over after making the conclusion they were on a date - Easy targets.

Adrien would not consider Marinette to be an easy target. She had accepted instantly.

"You realize this is probably rigged, right?" Adrien whispered to her as she handed over the money needed to participate.

"I know. I just love besting liars."

"That explains Lila, then." Adrien muttered, before stepping back, remembering Ladybug's intervention between him and Lila when she first showed up in school. "Alright then, Mari, good luck."

Not that she even needed it. And Adrien knew that just as well.

She barely even needed time to aim. All of her practice with her yo-yo as Ladybug, the skillful and delicate hands needed to create the beautiful dress she was currently wearing, the strength and basically everything else about her physical capabilities was practically designed to utterly obliterate this sort of challenge.

One solid throw was all Marinette needed. Throwing the ball like a perfectly served pitch, she hit the center can on the bottom row, and watched the rest of the cans fall around it while gravity finished off the rest for her. Every can fell down around it, knocking the entire stack down in a single strike. The stall owner was obviously shocked.

"Nice." Adrien complimented with a one-sided grin on the right side of his lips. "Looks can be deceiving."

"I told you, my pitch is better than most." Marinette told the stall owner. She was unusually smug right now, but Adrien figured after a serve like that, and after being considered an easy target by the stall owner, she deserved to be.

"Y-Yeah... It seems so." The owner straightened himself up, mentally making a note to pick his targets better. He reached up into the shelves of prizes, filled with stuffed toys, primarily, none of which Marinette particularly wanted. She had just done this for the challenge of it. "Well, you did the test, so here's your prize!"

Adrien had a hard time not bursting out into laughter. "That's cool." He commented, after seeing the strained look on Marinette's face.

It was a Chat Noir doll.

* * *

Getting away from the stall owner, Adrien basically fell apart with his fits of laughter. That had been far too perfect a prize. He couldn't have come up with a better irony if he tried. And the look on her face, of both otter disgust and contempt for both the stall owner, and the boy who was holding back laughter, was beyond perfect.

"That was perfect!" He howled with laughter, clapping his hands together in applause. "I should have tried winning one of those for you."

"You're enjoying the irony in this _way_ too much." Marinette sighed, but she was happy that Adrien was enjoying himself. She didn't remember ever seeing him in just pure, unconcerned joyous laughter at something stupid like winning an ironic prize.

"Ah, that's made my _night_." Adrien commented with a smirk. "We could go home right now and I'd call it a good night."

"Heck no!" Marinette told him. "We've only just got here!"

"I was only kidding, Mari." Adrien reassured her. "I've been looking forward to this way too much for me to be prepared to head straight home after just that."

"See anything you want to try?"

"Not really." Adrien commented. "What about you?"

"I chose the first thing."

"And that brought me _plenty_ of joy, Mairnette. Trust me, I'm not too bothered." Also aided by the fact that Adrien had, honestly, little to no idea how a funfair even really... Well, worked. He was socially awkward as people came, not out of anything other than his own ignorance as to how these sorts of situations worked.

"We could get some food if you're hungry." Marinette suggested. There had to be some stalls or something around the place, didn't there?

"I mean, if you want to, sure." Adrien nodded, standing upright.

* * *

Throughout the course of the night, Adrien was awkward. Not to the degree someone could call him out on it, but he felt incredible out of place. He was enjoying himself, and the fact he was with Marinette, their hands held the entire time, filled him with joy to absolutely no end. He was having fun.

He just felt like he was out of place. He hadn't even known that at the target range, the guns weren't actually loaded with live ammunition, like he had previously assumed. When firing one, he had expected a loud bang and buckshot. He had to ask the person running the stall if his weapon had actually fired because he had no idea.

Marinette found this an endless source of entertainment, but she always made sure he was comfortable with everything. She was almost acting like a sister to him in a certain way. She knew what this sort of place was like. She knew how to interact with people. Adrien didn't, thanks to his upbringing, and would either come across as cripplingly shy, or overly social, two very different extremes.

Still, just being at this event with him, just spending time with him... Not as Chat Noir, not as Ladybug. Just being able to be close to one another and, just for once in their lives, be able to enjoy themselves without having to worry about anything else... It made her happier than words could describe.

His hand was warm... So very, very warm, just thinking about how warm it was made her blush, which, in turn, made her warm even more, continuing the cycle over and over again.

"You're cute when you blush."

And that random compliment just further added to her growing embarrassment. "What? That - That's not helping get rid of my blush..."

"I know. That's why I said it."

* * *

After a few hours of fun, both of them decided it was a good time to pack everything up and head back home, so Adrien wouldn't miss his ride home. Marinette constantly assured him that it was okay. He didn't get a choice in the matter, and she didn't blame him. All the same, Adrien kept apologizing, in some cases, he apologized for apologizing.

"You know... This was fun. A lot of fun." Marinette told him, deciding it best, for his sake mostly, that she attempt to steer the conversation forward more.

"It - It was, Mari..." Adrien agreed. "I don't remember the last time I got to just relax and have fun with someone..." He bit his lower lip, not sure if he should even ask the question, or if he'd sound stupid or not. "Uh... Listen, this might sound stupid, or taken for granted or, something, but..."

"Yeah, Adrien?"

"Um, a-are we?..." He pointed at himself and Marinette a few times, before adding on, "You know... Are, um... Are you like my g-girlfriend now, o-or?..."

An unavoidable blush came onto Marinette's face. A year of fantasizing this very moment hadn't done anything to prepare her for hearing something like that. Aside from a crimson blush, and widening eyes, she remained very, surprisingly calm. She had a very distinct waver in her voice when she spoke, however. "D-Do you... Do you want... Me to be?"

"I-If you want to..."

She wasn't sure if he was messing around or was genuinely having a stuttering problem, but she calmed down. His stuttering, and his own blush reminded her - He was nervous too. He was just as nervous as she was, probably even more so than she was. Her waver was gone now, but she was still dealing with a heart that felt like it was going to burst out of her chest and run away on its own any second now. "Adrien... I've watched you for over a year... I've had a crush on you for such a long time... You've seen my wall. I fell for Chat... I-I even kissed you... And then here we are, on a date." She smiled warmly and asked. "Want to have a guess if I want to be your girlfriend?"

"A no, and then a punch to the gut?"

"Way to kill the mood, Agreste." Marinette laughed. She couldn't blame him for wanting to lighten the mood though. "I... I want to be your girlfriend, Adrien..." She then exploded into a blush, realizing the sentence that had just come out of her mouth.

Marinette didn't even get a second to back up when she felt Adrien pulling her into a loving kiss. Her heart nearly exploded right then and there, but she quickly stopped resisting it, and accepted the kiss, and returned it happily.

She was surprised with how soft his lips were. When she had kissed him, she hadn't really been able to take note of that, since she had been a bit too over eager and assertive to really take notes of anything. But they were _soft_. They were _warm_. And they were _loving_.

The kiss barely lasted a couple seconds, but all the needed emotional value was in there.. Both separated from the other, looked at their other, their Soul Mate, their Soul Link partner, and smiled.

"Come on." Adrien said with a warm smile. "We really do need to get back now..."

Marinette nodded, still a bit dazed, but she agreed, and grabbed a tight hold of Adrien's hand.

Turning around, Marinette could have slammed her head into the pavement.

Right there, watching everything unfold, was Chloe.

Marinette froze, as did Adrien. Adrien made a vocal response, very befitting the situation. "Oh, crap."

The blue haired girl was expecting the absolute worst. She was preparing for Chloe to basically explode at her, and attempt to drag Adrien somewhere else, as far as she could physically get him from her. She was expecting the absolute worst.

Chloe just walked on.

She even sent them a friendly wave.

Adrien and Marinette stopped dead in their tracks, watching in surprise as to the fact that Chloe - _Chloe_ \- The girl who was such a... Words wouldn't even come close to describing the kind of person she was... And how open she had been about her supposed feelings for Adrien, had just walked by, after seeing them kiss like that.

Both of them made an appropriate action at that point. "What the hell?"

* * *

 **Needed a stage to keep this story going... This one seems to work well ^_^**

 **I've got a few ideas now thanks to you guys, and since its pretty clear you guys want me to keep going... Let's see how far we can keep this thing going, huh guys? you guys are the main providers of this story, not me. you give me the inspiration to keep this thing going. So lets see how it goes!**

 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and if you did, be sure to follow my Wattpad, GamingEmpire, for more stories, earlier upload times, and more interactivity with me!**

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	21. Whims Of Reality (1YearOfMiraculous)

A thousand thoughts were running through Adrien's head when he got home that night. Many of them revolved around Marinette, much to his pleasure, but unfortunately, the vast majority focusing on what the hell had been the deal with Chloe.

He knew Chloe. He understood her personality. He knew the kind of person she was. He knew the sort of things she would do in certain situations.

That had not been one of them, at any given point.

Chloe was a spiteful person. Adrien had known her since he was a child, and had known that about her for years, probably close to a decade now that he thought about it. That fact hadn't changed throughout all these years knowing her. In a sane world, Chloe would have freaked the hell out about seeing him and Marinette, based on her previous reactions.

She had smiled and waved.

That wasn't normal.

Something wasn't right.

He was convinced that something wasn't right. Maybe it was an Akuma? That seemed to be a logical conclusion to draw. An Akuma that dramatically altered the personality of a person in question didn't seem out of the question. In a way, that's what they did anyway. But he found himself dismissing it. Chloe had already been Akumatized, into Antibug. The blond model knew very little about Akuma's themselves, but he had the theory that the same person could only be Akumatized into one villain. He used that logic because of Stoneheart and Ivan. It wasn't perfect logic, but it wasn't like he had any other information to work with.

So Chloe herself being Akumatized was removed from the table of possibilities. Adrien supposed that it was possible that Chloe had been affected by someone who was Akumatized, or something - Anything... But he wasn't sure. There were too many unanswered questions, too many ways this could go differently. so many varied ways that something wrong was happening, and Adrien just couldn't see them. He was convinced something dark was happening behind the scenes.

Hawkmoth hadn't sent any Akumas out for a rather long time. Was it possible this had something to do with it?...

No, that was unlikely. Affecting the behavior of people just... It didn't benefit Hawkmoth in any way. He could have argued that because Chloe was the mayor's daughter, Hawkmoth could use her as some sort of ransom, but that required him to come into the light. Hawkmoth worked from the shadows, never doing anything himself. He wouldn't risk being detected.

Adrien bit his lower lip. "What a way to end a date." He muttered to himself. He hoped Marinette had more ideas about this whole mess than he did.

* * *

Marinette could not recall, in the history of her friendship with Alya, a moment in which she seemed to be absolutely seething with pure rage. Chloe suspending her had been close, but ultimately, it didn't even _compare_ to the state the blogger was in right now.

First thing in the morning, and Alya looked ready to tear someone to shreds with her bare hands. Marinette could have sworn that they even looked sharper than normal. She'd rarely seen the brown-skinned girl with a frown on her face, never-mind this predatory growl. Part of her was worried Alya might genuinely bite her.

The blunette girl was, quite frankly, disturbed. she had come to school this morning completely expecting Alya to be armed with a long list of questions and innuendos regarding the date she and Adrien had last night. That was Alya-like. She would have expected that. She had been expecting that. Coming in to find this rabid beast almost... She would have preferred the list of jokes and teases.

"I freaking hate him, Marinette!" Alya snorted again, for maybe the tenth time. "I can't stand him!"

"Alya, please, calm down. You're freaking me out here." Marinette said, trying to make her friend relax as best she could, failing miserably. "S-Seriously, what's up with you and Nino?"

"I told you, I hate him!"

"I thought you two got along well enough. Heck, I thought you - " Actually, thinking about it, this was one thread she did _not_ want to sail down, particularly with Alya looking like she might throw someone into a wall at any moment. "We- Well, okay, what did he do?"

"He's just... There!"

"That - That's your reasoning?..."

"Do I need better reasoning?!"

"Uh... Kind of?" Marinette almost bit her tongue when answering as she received a venomous glare from her best friend.

This didn't even seem to be like Alya at all. This didn't even seem to be the same person. This seemed to be some sort of feral animal placed into a human body and forced to integrate into society. She was feral. there really wasn't a better explanation.

And Nino didn't seem to be any better. He had hurled abuse towards Alya the very second she had walked in the room. Marinette had had to seriously drag Alya back, and force her to sit at the exact opposite of the classroom, as far away from Nino as she could physically get her friend.

"Come on, there isn't a need for that, you two."

And even more confusing - Chloe was being a freaking voice of _reason_. It was freaking _scary_ to Marinette. Like she'd been thrown into some sort of alternative reality, that warped to the whims of someone who decreed various things that made no sense whatsoever.

Everyone else in the classroom was equally as confused and concerned. There wasn't a single person who wasn't somewhat disturbed by what the hell was going on.

When Adrien finally walked in, it was like he'd visited an alien world. He took one look at Nino, then Alya, then Marinette, and then Chloe, and finally, he looked at everyone else. They'd all huddled into the center few seats, so as to be as far away from the others as physically possible.

"Ooookay... What's - What's going on here then?" The blond model asked, needing answers basically instantly. This scene was both hilarious to him, and very, deeply concerning.

He never got an answer that made sense.

* * *

"So Chloe is being... Not Chloe. And Alya and Nino are in a fight or something?..." Adrien asked Marinette while she waited with him for his ride back home to arrive. She had, to the best of her ability, explain what was going on, but since she had no idea herself, she couldn't do much of a good job of it.

"I guess?... I don't know Adrien..." Marinette sighed. "I'm worried about Alya. She was just... That wasn't her. That girl in there... That wasn't Alya."

"Nino and Chloe neither... Something's going on. Chloe didn't even bring up our date, and Nino... I don't think I've ever seen him this pissed off about... Anything. I'm not even... I don't know what's going on right now." He held her hand tightly as the two of them waited next to one another.

"We'll find out though, won't we?" Marinette said to him, with a small smile on her face. She knew she should be happy right now. Just being able to be next to Adrien, and hold his hand like this... She should be happy... But she couldn't be. Not while unsure what was wrong with her friends.

"Of course we will. That's what we do." Adrien said with a smile. "Same place as usual, right?"

He was referring to their meetup point. It was just a casual phrase they could use, even in public, and no one would get the wrong idea... Well, okay, perhaps they would, but that was the least of their concerned right now. "Yep. Absolutely."

"I'm worried too." Adrien told her honestly. "But we'll figure this out. We always do, don't we?"

How many times had their backs been pressed against the walls? How close had they come to defeat? How many times did they come so close to losing everything? To it being the end of their journeys? To failing to protect Paris. To fail to protect one another. To do... Anything.

They always came out on top. They always had each others backs.

Why would it be any different now?

"Right." Marinette nodded.

As soon as she finished that sentence, Adrien's usual limousine showed up, driving around the corner. Reluctantly, they let go of one another's hands, and waved each other goodbye as Adrien was whisked off once again to his prison of a home.


	22. Does This Work?

There wasn't really a way Adrien was going to get out of this situation without conflict with his father. He'd been caught red handed. Gabriel Agreste was the type of person who would use whatever he could get his hands on to restrict Adrien's movement. He had been opposed to Adrien attending public school since the first day he ever mentioned it, only allowing him to go when he realized, he wasn't going to be able to stop Adrien from going. He only allowed him to go so he could place restrictions on him even while he did that. The limousine rides there and back hadn't been for Adrien's benefit. They were so Gabriel knew exactly where his son was at all times.

All these restrictions, all these rules, all these harsh codes Adrien was forced to live by, all these became the reason he lied. And he had gotten way too good at it for even his own liking.

Getting caught though... His father was going to use this against him as much as he could.

He stared at his son, his eyes piercing, narrow, and a frown on his face. Just a few simple, not particularly observant observations told Adrien everything he needed to know about his normally expressionless father.

He was _pissed_.

"...Would you believe me if I said we went out to grab some snacks for the project?" Adrien said, trying to joke his way out of the situation. He wasn't going to lie his way out of it, so what was the worst that could happen at this point?

His father didn't even twitch. "Who is the girl?"

Bad. Very bad. The less his father knew about Marinette, the better. Then again, it wasn't like he could deny her existence to him anymore either. It was pretty hard to deny what was right in front of him.

"A friend."

"A girlfriend?"

"Would that be a problem?"

"Consider me curious. I want to know who she is." That wasn't a request. It wasn't a question. It was a demand. Should Adrien deny it, there would be consequences.

"...Yes, she's my girlfriend." He didn't have a choice. His father wasn't going to believe that she was just a friend, he had made that perfectly clear. There wasn't any point in digging a deeper hole than he was already in.

"Name."

"...Marinette." Just telling him her name made him feel disgusting. He felt like he'd betrayed her. It wasn't like he had a choice... But it made him sick either way. ' _I'm sorry, Marinette.'_

"Her full name."

"What difference does her full name make?!" Adrien yelled, basically out of panic. This was a line he didn't want to cross. He'd already told his father way more than he was comfortable with. He didn't make his panic obvious, but his tone of voice indicated his discomfort, something he knew his father would pick up on.

The truth was, the first name really would be all Gabriel needed to figure out who Marinette was. He had a picture, and a first name. He even recognized her from the Derby hat contest. He had her face. He was willing to let the last name slide. He already knew enough. "Fine. Then how long have you been seeing her?"

What would make him less angry, Adrien wondered, telling him that was technically their first date, which it technically was, or that technically they had been seeing one another for a couple of weeks? There were a whole load of technicalities that Adrien himself wasn't sure what he'd consider the official start of their relationship.

"...A few weeks." It was better to tell the truth in this situation right now. Not like he had much of a choice. Adrien liked to consider their first few interactions as Chat and Marinette to be the start of their relationship.

"And why did you not inform me of this?"

That was easy. "Because I knew you'd have me in here answering questions like right now, father."

His father stared right at his son, before turning around in his seat. "Very well. Do not lie to me about your whereabouts again. Dismissed."

Every muscle in Adrien's body suddenly, and unexpectedly, relaxed all at once, and he found himself able to sigh. That was it? That was all that was going to be said about the matter?

No. His father wasn't going to let that be it, surely. He couldn't just let this go... "...What do you want with her?"

Gabriel didn't reply. Adrien wasn't sure if it was because he was nervous or not, but the fact his father didn't say a word compelling the young teenager to keep talking.

"Father, Marinette... She isn't a negative influence on me. She actually makes me feel happy. I enjoy being around her, but it's not going to affect me. I can still do my schoolwork. I can still do my modelling work. I can still do all those activities you plan for me. The only reason we even went on a date yesterday was because it was when _I_ was free." He bit his lower lip, and could taste the iron of his blood. "I'm the one who asked her out, not the other way around. This is on me. So... Don't bother her. Please."

After an uncomfortable, lengthy silence, Gabriel spoke, still not turning to face his son. "...You had better hope she doesn't impact your grades or work, Adrien. Or I _will_ take measures against her."

"Then... You... Approve?"

"We will see. If I deem her as a negative influence on you, I will prevent you from seeing her, and will take steps to enforce that."

A passive threat to remove him from public teaching... but it was a hell of a lot more than he had been expecting. Adrien wasn't sure if he could believe this or not, but he refused to look deeper into this than what it was. "Thank you, father!"

"You will also have a modelling session come Friday. Prove to me that you're mature enough for a relationship with someone else there."

"Yes, father! I shall!"

"Dismissed." Gabriel noted this was the first time he had ever needed to tell Adrien more than once that he was dismissed.

He heard the door shut a few seconds later.

It wasn't so much that the famous designer was opposed to his son having a girlfriend. He understood the feelings a teenage boy would have.

It was that he wanted to save his son from the pain of losing a loved one.

He knew that ultimately, he couldn't stop his son from seeing this girl - While he could take steps to prevent it as such, if Adrien was serious about this girl, he'd find loopholes, excuses, and straight up lies in order to see her. It would hurt both of them less if Gabriel made it easier for his son.

He wouldn't tolerate lies, however.

And the first sign Marinette showed of being a negative influence, he wouldn't hesitate to implant restrictions regarding her.

* * *

"I guess our secret relationship didn't last too long with your dad, huh?" Ladybug said jokingly after hearing the news from Chat.

"Urgh... I'm sorry... He knows who you are because of me..." Chat apologized again, for about the seventh time that night.

"Stop with all the sorrying." The red heroine said softly, scratching between the two fake ears on Chat's head. "I'd rather him know who I am than you get in trouble because of me."

Making a noise that sounded akin to a purr, Chat sighed. "You're far too good to me, My Lady."

"Against my better judgement."

"Aww, don't be like that." The cat hero purred once again. One huge benefit to being the hero Chat Noir, Adrien found, was that when he was like this, he actually did become more like a cat. And that included his reception to things like this sort of petting.

The two of them had met in their normal sot once again, as the legendary defenders of Paris. A week or so ago, it had been the site of Ladybug's rejection of Chat Noir. Now it was the site of Ladybug discussing the recent happenings with her boyfriend.

"Have you had any ideas regarding Chloe and Alya?"

"And Nino." Chat added, sighing, lamenting the absence of Ladybug's hand atop his head. "Nothing comes to mind. It can't be an Akuma. Ivan's the only person we know who got Akumatized twice, and both times he became Stoneheart."

"But that was because I didn't purify the Akuma..."

"We don't know enough about Akuma." Chat said with another sigh, this time out of frustration. "We don't have a clue if it works that way... But even if it _was_ , what benefit would Hawkmoth get from it?"

It all made sense, what Chat was saying. Hawkmoth could be working from an unseen angle... but what angle could he be working from by changing people's personalities? There didn't seem to be a reason. Unless he was trying to ruin their personalities to the point they didn't want to be Ladybug and Chat Noir anymore, but it seemed like a long shot.

There just wasn't enough to work with.

Ladybug sighed. What a mess.

* * *

 **I feel like Gabriel is intelligent enough to realize that, if his son likes a girl, he can try, but he's not gonna be able to stop him seeing her. I imagine he was hurt after his wife left, so that's why he's hesitant to let his son be romantically involved.**

 **And what on earth is happening to the people of Paris?... Well, I know, but it's fun to leave you guys hanging : D**

 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and if you did, be sure to follow my Wattpad, GamingEmpire, for more stories, earlier uploads, interactivity, and more!**

 **You can also follow My YouTube, TheGamingEmpire for games, anime, and a planned review of Miraculous Ladybug!**

 **You can also follow my Tumblr, GamingEmpire, for blogs, artwork, sneak peaks, and more!**

 **Links to everything are in the profile as always, and I will see you in the next chapter of whatever it is i do indeed decide to write next. See ya!**


	23. Spite And Sword

Another night, another target. Another late night stalking. Another person whom to corrupt.

Lurking in the shadows was a villain. This villain possessed a singular purpose - To corrupt the links that formed relationships with other people.

Links occur whenever a person meets another person, invisible, and intangible. These links can be of many things. The friendship link, the hatred link, the familial link, and the Soul Link, as well as hundreds of thousands of other links that the villain himself was unsure of. The specifics were unimportant. All he needed was a general idea of what to cause.

He wore a cape around his neck, dark black, to aid in camouflaging himself into the darkness of the night, as well as a white mask, wrapped around his face like bandages, with only two holes for his eyes to see, one for his nose, and another for his mouth. Otherwise, he was armed with all sorts of various knives and sharp weaponry on his body. His name was Spite.

Before he had been given this purpose, he had been a teenager known as Hugo Corrapulé, thrown into a deep depression after learning that the group of friends he had amassed over the previews few weeks, had been using him for little more than a joke, a dare by their other friend groups, to see how long the poor teenager would go until he figured out they didn't give a damn about him, leaving him all alone once again.

And now, he had the power to show them just how much feeling like he was feeling used to hurt. The anger, the sadness, the hatred and the nihilism it brings. He would corrupt the links of friendship they held so dear, tearing their group apart, making the closest of friends turn into the uttermost enemies. Turn people who hated one another into the closest friends, confusing and betraying other peoples trust and friendship in them. Tear everything held sacred and held dear to every other person in this nightmarish existence of absolute pointlessness into nothingness, leaving behind empty shells of people with no reasons to exist in the grand infinity of the cosmos.

Thus was the strength of the Soul Link.

He had started with his own ex-friend group... and now he was moving onto others. Behest of his master.

"Spite." The voice of the bestower rang inside the villains head, sending him an image of the person he had to thank for all of this. Hawkmoth. The man who had gifted Spire all of this power, and given him the name. He had always wondered, how had Hawkmoth known about the Links, when no one else had? But then again, did it matter? He was in control of them now, free to act as he willed, as long as he returned the favor. "Your actions are permitted as you see fit, as we agreed. However, you know that you must return the favor to me soon."

"You need only say the word, Hawkmoth. What do you want me to do?" Spite asked, brandishing a knife, and gripping hold of the blade, so his crimson blood ran down the sharp metal.

"To my understanding, the connection between Ladybug and Chat Noir is that of a Soul Link. I request that you sever that link, and turn it to a link of absolute hatred."

"Is that all? You don't want me to... Get my blades dirty?"

"It is unlikely your powers will be enough to win in a fight - Should you engage in combat with them, I shall not stop you... But you are required to sever their link."

"And I get to keep these powers, right?" Spite questioned again, with a toothy, evil grin.

"Naturally."

Brandishing two butcher's knives in his hands, Spite glared at his target. "Don't worry about a thing, Hawkmoth. Consider it done." He then leaped at his target, channeling the dark energy into his blades, causing them to glow a dark, disturbing color of blackish grey around the sharp, serrated, perfectly designed weapons for slashing opponents, and struck the yellow link of friendship.

* * *

Adrien's head was full of aches and pains. Yesterday, it had been Nino and Alya who had turned into arch-enemies within the space of twenty-four hours, and now, it was Kim and Alix who were at one another's throats. The two got along fine the previous day. Now Adrien was certain they wanted to kill each other, and given the way they normally acted, they might well try to.

He wouldn't let him distract him though. He couldn't let that distract him. Not with his modelling work he had after school today. His father had given him a chance to prove he could manage a relationship with a girl. More than Adrien could have ever really hoped for from his father. He couldn't screw this up. He _couldn't_.

Still, Alix, Kim, Alya, Nino, and Chloe, all affected so dramatically for little to no known reason or understanding, with no clear reason for it in mind. It was worrying Adrien. He was concerned about his best friend, who was currently glaring at Alya from across the room, clear hatred in his eyes, before he turned quickly and growled.

"I uh... Take it you're still angry with Alya?" Adrien asked.

"Oh yeah, dude. Oh yeah." Nino replied, making a fist with his right hand.

"What... What did she even do to make you this angry?"

Nino didn't answer. There was no answer, Adrien knew. This wasn't Nino. This wasn't the sort of person that he normally was. He wasn't spiteful, regardless of who or whatever the person in question was. He wouldn't hold grudges like this forever. The only exception was Chloe, but then, who didn't have a grudge against Chloe? But Nino always had a good reason for being angry at someone. Him not having a reason to be angry was just... Weird.

Adrien knew he wasn't going to get answers by asking Nino, Alya, or anyone who had been changed so dramatically. He needed to figure out the actual source of the issue, and take that down.

He was worried that whatever had done this to Nino and Alya, was going to do this to him and Marinette.

He refused to allow that to happen.

* * *

"Yes, that's good! Keep-a that pose... Now look angrier. Too angry, tone it back... Yes! Look directly at the camera... Don't move that face! That's-a perfect!"

Adrien was on _fire_ with his work today. He had never hated modelling as a job. But at the same time, he had never particularly enjoyed it either. But today, he was absolutely rocking it. He was having more fun with this session than he had ever had in his entire life. He was taking it seriously, of course he was, but he was still presenting some of the best poses and images ever asked from him. He was like an artist, slaughtering painting after painting.

It was also one of the few times Gabriel had been present for one of Adrien's photoshoots, although this had little to do with the arrangements he and Adrien had made. This was because Adrien's photo's today were up for consideration of one of the top fashion magazine in Paris, and Gabriel wanted a personal say in what image he felt best captured Adrien, so he always intended to be there, as well as do some of his usual networking and negotiating with other people present.

Even the stoic, emotionless, cold and distant Gabriel Agreste would admit, his son was doing an excellent job. He knew his son would be doing his best to prove that he was capable and mature enough to continue seeing this Marinette girl, but the images didn't lie - He was excellent today.

"Less angry now! The most-a beautiful girl has just walked in front of you!" The photographer told Adrien. It was a way of explaining to Adrien what kind of face, emotion he was looking for. He would say something was happening, and Adrien was to respond accordingly.

 _'That one's easy._ ' Adrien thought. He simply thought about Mairnette, about Ladybug, and the date they had shared together. The kiss they had shared. He thought about his girlfriend - The most perfect person in the world.

"Perfect-o!" Another series of flashed shot out at Adrien.

* * *

The day long done, and about a thousand and one absolutely magnificent pictures of Adrien later, Adrien had been dismissed from his photoshoot. He had made his way home quickly, transformed into Chat Noir, and dashed out of his estate to meet with Marinette. There was still a couple of hours to wait before he would normally go out on patrol with Ladybug, but seeing as he'd had her in his head all day, and hadn't really had the chance to speak to her, he couldn't wait that long.

Reaching her house took him basically no time at all, where he caught her on top of her balcony, apparently texting someone on her phone. He watched her, for just a second, and asked himself, how was it possible for someone to look so absolutely perfect while doing something so menial, so absolutely simple.

He didn't make even any slight effort to hide his presence when he leaped over to her rooftop. If he made it more obvious he was headed over to her, people at street level would have probably noticed him. One final somersault, and Chat Noir landed on the roof of the Dupain-Cheng bakery, on his feet of course, like any cat would. "My lady~"

"I thought cats were supposed to be good at being hidden." Marinette joked, sliding her phone into her pocket and looking at Chat with her perfect bluebell eyes. "I could have seen you coming from a mile away."

"I must shine too brightly, even in daylight."

"Whatever you say, you silly black cat."

Chat gently pressed his lips against Marinette's, something he hadn't done since Wednesday. The action clearly surprised Marinette, but she didn't complain. She just enjoyed it while it lasted.

"Forgive my rashness." Chat said with a dramatic bow, "But you've been in my thoughts so long I just had to get that out of my system."

"O-Oh?" Marinette questioned, needing just a second to regain her breath. Kissing Chat - Adrien - Whoever you wanted to call him, still robbed her of oxygen. She wasn't sure if it ever wouldn't rob her of oxygen. "You - You had a modelling job today, right?.. How - How'd it go?"

"Pretty well, actually." Chat said, taking both of Marinette's hand into his own. "Father seemed pleased with the results, so that's always a good sign. If I keep that up, he might approve of me dating you completely soon, Princess."

"That'd be nice... It'd be one less thing to worry about, I guess..." Marinette replied, holding onto Chat's hands, and looking away, at the floor slightly.

"You mean with everything going on at school." His reply was a nod. "I know... Nino has been weird the last few days... But now that Kim and Alix have been changed too, that just confirms to me that something artificial is going on."

"I know..." Marinette said, sounding incredibly upset. How couldn't she be upset? It was a depressing, worrying situation. "...I'm worried about Alya... And Nino... And ... You."

"Me?"

He felt Marinette's hands grip onto his tighter, hurting him a little, but he didn't complain. "I'm worried that one day... You'll wake up and hate me... Or that I'll wake up and detest you..."

After everything that had happened between the two of them, after all that they had gone through to get to this point, Chat couldn't even begin to blame her for thinking like this. The fear had always been in the back of his mind too, but he ignored it, and pushed it aside, so he could focus on the more important things. Like her.

"We'll stop this, Marinette." The miraculous wielder assured her, kissing her forehead and hugging her closely, letting the warmth of his body wash over her. Marinette hugged him back, enjoying the closeness they shared.

Until just a second later, Marinette pushed him down, with merely a second to spare. "Watch out!"

Throwing him and herself to the right, both Chat and Marinette avoided a narrow impaling by a butchers knife, now lodged into the wall they were just stood next to. "You're quick... "

"What the hell?" Chat asked, looking at the bandaged face of the attacker, and standing upright. "Who the hell are you supposed to be?"

"Your links... The Soul Link..." He sounded crazy, but Chat and Marinette both knew, this man knew about the Soul Links. Whoever he was, he was close to a miraculous holder of some sort. He looked like a serial killer, with all his knives and bloody blades attached to him. "Your Links... Are joined... Meaning you're... My targets..."

"What the... What are you talking about? Who even are you?" Chat yelled, preparing to fight, knowing he wasn't going to get out of this without some conflict.

"I'm called Spite..." The villain told Chat Noir, brandishing another, razor sharp blade. "And... You and the girl... You share a Soul Link... And my job-" Spite charged with a raised knife, a sadistic grin on his face, and an ear splitting laugh. "-Is to rip it apart!"

* * *

 **I apologize, I cannot for the life of me remember your name, but you know who you are - Thank you very much for the idea of a villain who can affect the links between people, you have helped keep this story going for a few more chapters to go!**

 **Spite is heavily based on Stain from My Hero academia, if you need a reference as to the kind of villain I'm working with. The story is going to have a few twists and turns here, so I hope that you'll stick along for the ride!**

 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and if you did, be sure to follow my Wattpad, GamingEmpire, for more stories, earlier uploads, interactivity, and more!**

 **You can also follow My YouTube, TheGamingEmpire for games, anime, and a planned review of Miraculous Ladybug!**

 **You can also follow my Tumblr, GamingEmpire, for blogs, artwork, sneak peaks, and more!**

 **Links to everything are in the profile as always, and I will see you in the next chapter of whatever it is i do indeed decide to write next. See ya!**


	24. The Link Corrupter

Marinette felt herself being dragged by Chat Noir as soon as Spite took a step closer towards them, brandishing his cloaked weaponry. Chat didn't hold back, nor was he gentle. He didn't have time to be, unless he wasted something sharp, cold, and metallic to end up lodged into his spine.

Throwing Marinette to the side so she was out of the way, Chat turned to face Spite, still running at him with an eerie blood-lust. Miraculous holders felt less pain when they were transformed, but they didn't prevent death, meaning if he got stabbed in a vital organ it was lights out for Chat, something he would prefer to avoid. Spite aimed for the neck, cutting with a wide strike. Chat backed away from the strike, quickly launching a roundhouse kick into Spite's stomach. The strike made contact, but it didn't seem to do much. Spite took it with stride, enveloping his knife in a dark blade, and raising it high, to stab Chat's leg.

Chat quickly fell, dropping to the floor. Landing on the solid ground, he then swept his legs, aiming for the weak points on Spite's legs. Attacking the back of the knee, he hoped to throw the villain off balance, and then sweep him of his feet. This did not have the desired effect however, as it didn't seem to damage Spite all that much. Instead, Spite simply slammed his own boot onto Chat Noir's leg, pinning him in place.

"Nowhere to run now, Kitty Chat!" Spite grinned mockingly, raising up his murk-covered blade. There was a certain joy in his eyes - He was enjoying this. These were the eyes of a pure sociopaths.

"Get away from him!"

Spite glanced up, only to receive a solid punch to the eye from Marinette, launching herself at the walking knife-rack. Her punch was solid, knocking him back, causing him a great deal of pain. Despite the slim figure Marinette and Ladybug both had, they were deceptively strong. Their punches were as strong as anyone else's. Perhaps stronger. Especially given the danger Chat had been in.

Knocked to the side for a few moments, Spite's darkness-covered butcher's knife fell to his side, clattering against the floor. Marinette aided up her partner to his feet. "Chat, are you okay?"

"When did you even... You know what, it doesn't matter. " Chat muttered. "Thanks for the save, My lady."

"Anything broken?"

"Nothing I can't walk off." He grinned, despite there being an unpleasant pain in his right leg, he would be able to survive it. He looked at his armed opponent, taking stock of just how many sharp and serrated blades and weapons he had attached to his body. In addition to those powers he spoke of, even without them, if he was skilled with those many blades, he could prove to be a dangerous opponent.

Speaking of his powers, Chat Noir glanced at the blade, covered in a dark mystifying energy. Wherever it touched, the material seemed to rot away, which was very concerning to Chat. But when he thought about it...

"Chat." Marinette said, looking at the knife herself, and the villain, whom was staggering upright again. "Do you get it?"

"I think so." Chat nodded.

The blade by itself was a dangerous, deadly weapon. A knife on its own could be a dangerous weapon, used against anyone. But Spite seemed to possess the ability to channel this dark, corrupting energy into the weapons. Given that he was talking about corrupting the links between people...

"That weapon of yours." Chat called out to Spite, as he grabbed his darkened weapon. "That ruins links between people, right?"

"Depends on what you consider 'ruining'." Spite said, his eye trailing on his weapon, looking at it fondly. "But I do edit the links between people. I started with some venomous scumbags I know... And then I started on other people who deserved it."

"Alya and Nino didn't deserve it!" Marinette yelled at the maniacal villain, in her own anger.

"Perhaps not..." Spite glared at Marinette, and a grin of his teeth, running red with his blood. "But it certainly was _fun_." He shuffled towards the two of them more, showing off the reflective blade, still reflecting images despite its coating of darkness. "And I'm gonna have just as much fun ripping yours apart!"

Chat gritted his teeth. If he could see Links... Then he could see their Soul Link. If he could see their Soul Link, it wouldn't matter how far they ran, where Marinette hid, where she went, and how long Chat fought. He would find the other one.

The link corruption had to work by making contact with one half of the Link holder. That was the only way Chat could make sense of the knife being involved in Spite's powers. He had to stab one half of a link with those dark negation powers, in order to choose what links to tamper with and destroy.

This meant that if both Chat and Ladybug fought... The chances of their Link being severed doubled. The possibility of his link, his connection, his love for Marinette being forcibly taken from him... That was what made him hesitant to fight Spite at all. He had to fight, he knew, but that didn't mean he had to like it. And Marinette getting involved... He liked even less.

But he knew there wasn't a choice in the matter.

"Marinette... He already knows who you are..."

"I know..." Marinette nodded. If Spite knew about the links, the chances were, he knew about the connection Ladybug and Chat Noir's had. Meaning it was likely Spite know the blue haired girl in front of him was Ladybug. She called upon her Kwami, who didn't waste any time. "Tikki, Spots On!"

Chat Noir bared his claws and dashed at Spite, throwing a flurry of scratches and attacks. "I'll keep him busy while you transform!"

"How noble!" Spite laughed, lunging with his blades, all closely dodged by Chat Noir. Spite and Chat would step forward and backwards as they gained the advantage over one another quickly and rapidly, neither staying on top for particularly long. Chat was able to disarm the blades from Spite a few times, but it didn't matter, as the maniacal villain would simply draw out another blade from a holster somewhere on his body.

Feeling a cut appear on the back of his hand, Chat backed up. Thankfully, it had been a regular slash, and not one that was affected by the dark energy. It was just his blood that dripped from his hand. He sighed in relief. He never thought he'd be sighing in relief at the fact a knife cut open the back of his hand, but here it was.

Spite lunged once more at Chat, with his darkness covering the blade, a sadistic grin came on his face as he aimed to lodge the blade right into the cat-themed heroes abdomen.

In that moment, Chat's vision was replaced by a flash of red-and-black, spinning and then a solid strike, knocking back Spite, at least to arms length.

Saved by another punch by Marinette, now fully transformed into Ladybug.

"Thanks." Chat nodded at his lady. This marked the first time they had gotten into a combat situation after having discovered each other's identities, something that Chat wasn't too comfortable with. It was one thing to fight alongside Ladybug when he didn't know who she was. Now he was fighting along Marinette, whom he knew, whom he loved, who he was dating now... He had total confidence in her fighting abilities, of course. He knew her. He knew how she fought...

But that didn't stop him from worrying.

Spite meanwhile, recovering from his punch to the ace, simply chuckled to himself. "Ladybug.. And Chat Noir... This.. Is gonna be fun!"

"Don't let yourself get hit." Ladybug told Chat, preparing her yo-yo, and spinning it in her left hand. "We've gone through way too much to lose each other now."

"Oh really? Cause I was just gonna let him stab me in the neck, see how that worked out." Chat joked, pulling out his baton and extending it, with a sarcastic tone to his voice and a joking grin.

"I know you're being sarcastic, but please don't say that." Ladybug shuddered at the mere thought.

Chat began the attack, by swinging his baton around like he was swinging a baseball bat, aimed straight for Spite's throat. The malicious villain ducked down, dodging the strike with easy, and tossed several knives at Chat with precise aim, only for them to be deflected by Ladybug's spinning yo-yo, causing them to fall, clattering to the floor.

Still using the momentum of her swing, Ladybug tossed her yo-yo straight at Spite, hoping to tie him up to avoid the fight altogether. This didn't work out however. Spite was able to use his knives as a defense, skimming them along the rope of the yo-yo, sending it right back towards Ladybug.

"This... Is where the real fun starts!" Spite announced, his grin plastered on with sickeningly disturbing detail.

Chat Noir and Ladybug braced themselves, preparing for the worst.

At that moment, a purple butterfly mask seemed to appear upon Spite's face. Hawkmoth's signature. It just confirmed that the masked villain who pulled all the strings behind the Akuma, behind the scenes, was behind everything.

"What?!" Spite seemed to yell into the mask in fury and anger. "But I'm just getting started!"

"Is he speaking to us or Hawkmoth?" Chat Noir asked, confused, but itching to strike, to end this.

"Not sure... I think so..."

"Grrrrr..." Spite grunted loudly, before he seethed his blades. "You're lucky. My time here is up." He sounded angry, bitter. It was clear he wasn't happy about this.

"You don't seriously think that we're just going to let you walk away after all of that, do you?" Ladybug asked.

"Probably not... So how about this?" Spite asked, tilting his head. "I'll return everyone whose links I altered, except the vermin from my school, back to their normal statuses. Sound fair?"

Chat didn't buy this, not even for a second. They would achieve the same result if they just got rid of Spite right here and now. The fact Spite wanted to run proved Hawkmoth had a far more deadly, far more dangerous plan prepared for him.

Letting him go was dangerous. And stupid.

"Why would - "

"Alternatively, if you defeat me, the links that have changed will remain that way. For good."

* * *

 **A cliffhangery type deal! Woo woooooooooo~ *Mystery music***

 **You guys seemed to like Spite, which is fair enough, I enjoy writing him. I feel the need to start a new chapter on his character next time, since i feel like I pushed him as far as I can this chapter. I want a bit more build up before We see what happens to him. i hope you all understand ^_^**

 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and if you did, be sure to follow , for more stories!**

 **You can also follow My YouTube, TheGamingEmpire for games, anime, and a planned review of Miraculous Ladybug!**

 **You can also follow my Tumblr, GamingEmpire, for blogs, artwork, sneak peaks, and more!**

 **Links to everything are in the profile as always, and I will see you in the next chapter of whatever it is i do indeed decide to write next. See ya!**


	25. Regret And Resistance

"We shouldn't have let Spite go."

Letting the Akuma Spite leave had angered and irritated Adrien to no extent. He had detested the action. He hated it, with every fiber of his being. Two days had passed, and it was still eating away at him.

Spite had apparently been true to his word. The next day, everyone was back to normal, apparently remembering very little about what had happened while their Links had been corrupted. Nino and Alya went back to being friends, and Alix and Kim went back to giving each other various dares and bets, and Chloe... Well, she went back to being herself. Couldn't win them all. That was the one thing people seemed upset about. To everything else, it was both a huge relief, and a massive state of confusion.

But that didn't reassure Adrien of anything.

He had taken it hard.

What was stopping Spite from doing this again? What was stopping him from doing this to people he didn't know? What did they have to base Spite's trustworthiness on?

Nothing. They didn't have anything to trust Spite on. How long until he turned around and stabbed them in the back? Literally, in his case.

What the hell had Marinette been thinking?

He didn't want to risk their own Links being corrupted either... But if they didn't take out Spite, then they ran the risk of Spite attacking them later. Especially since Spite knew who Marinette was...

"You heard him, Adrien." Marinette said, sighing as she typed in a few letters on her phone. "If we took him out there, everyone's Links would have remained damaged."

"Since when did we start listening to Akumas?" Adrien muttered, before he spoke up again. "You know that the result would have been the same if we got rid of the Akuma, and that got rid of the possibility of us being attacked later." Adrien couldn't bring himself to understand why... "Why did you let him go?"

Letting her arms drop, and dropping her phone onto her lap lightly, she sighed again. "I... I don't know. I don't think we would have won against him back then."

"What the heck makes you think we've got a better chance next time?"

"Adrien..."

"Marinette, he knows your face! That means Hawkmoth could know who you are now! And that horrific situation aside, that means that Spite could attack you at any time! Just _being_ here isn't safe anymore!" Adrien said, essentially yelling, as he threw his arms out, gesturing to the balcony of the bakery they were both at. Being here was dangerous now for Marinette. Spite could easily ambush her here, and she wouldn't be able to do anything about it. "And - And even all of that aside, Spite could be out there tearing someone's Soul Links to shreds right now, and Christ knows what else he could be doing with all of those freaking knives!"

"You think that I didn't think of that?!" Marinette snapped back, suddenly spurred into defense. The truth was, she knew she made the wrong call. She knew that it had been a mistake... But she had her reasons for doing so. "What did you want me to do? Throw both of us to the slaughterhouse? If he gets to either of us, then _no one_ has a chance against him!"

"I'm sure that's a great reassurance to anyone else he _stabs_."

Every comment Adrien made, sarcastic or not, muttered or spoken to her face, felt like a stab wound to her heart. But at the same time, it brought rise to anger, which she fired like a weapon at the blond model. "What - What's your problem with me?!"

"My problem is you're a freaking idiot!" Adrien snapped right back, with such force Marinette could practically feel a shock-wave hitting her as he spoke. "What's stopping Spite from coming up here right now and - And - And _God knows_ what! You didn't think about anything like that, did you!" Adrien realized how much he was yelling, and toned it down, but by his voice, it was clear he was still very angry. "Do you... Every single day I've woken up since you let him go, the first thing I do is text you... And every _second_ that passes by, I think ' _Spite's gotten to her. She's gone. I've... I've lost her.'_...And then you reply. And then I see you... And then you act so calm about everything... How?! How are you so..."

He cut himself off, biting his lower lip. The words hadn't even been in the air for more than two seconds, and he already deeply regretted every single one of them. Marinette didn't deserve that. She didn't deserve any of that. He loved her. He loved her so, so much... And the way she showed so little care for herself...

Did she not understand her own importance?

"You're... You're such an important person in my life... And people out there, people in Paris... They need you... So... How... How can you be so... So..." He trailed off. He couldn't think of the word he wanted to use. "...I don't want to lose you..."

Finishing his sentence, it was the first time he had actually looked Marinette in the face. She was clearly hurt. Upset. Tears stinging her eyes. Because she knew what he was saying was absolutely true. She had known the risks of letting Spite go. She knew it was a danger to her...

But she hadn't wanted to lose Adrien. She hadn't wanted to lose Chat Noir. She preferred it to be her over him. That's why she had been willing to take the risk of letting Spite go.

"Marinette... I'm - I'm sorry... I didn't - " Adrien tried to apologize.

Marinette shook her head. "No... You're right... I know it was a bad choice... But... I didn't want to risk losing you then..." She looked away, feeling guilt. It hadn't been her intention, but she had hurt Adrien while trying to help him. She felt horrible. Her own attempts to be a good person, a person who put others ahead of herself, had ended up only hurting the person she wanted to protect.

Adrien sighed, himself also feeling horrible. "I'm sorry..." He said again, walking over to her, and hugging her tightly, an action which was swiftly returned. "I don't want to risk losing you _now_..."

"You won't..."

"Doesn't mean I don't worry, Mari..."

Smiling weakly, Marinette hugged Adrien tighter. "Silly cat."

* * *

Hawkmoth was irritated. Very irritated.

Spite was the perfect Link-destroying machine. He was remorseless. Brutal. Sadistic. Impulsive, and above all, he was good. He was damn good at what he was designed to do. He enjoyed it, and he did it with incredible skill and almost what you could call grace.

But he was sociopathic. Whenever he engaged into combat, he focused only on the person he was trying to kill or sever the links of. Everything else was essentially just blackness.

And Ladybug had been _right there_ , and Spite's pure focus on Chat Noir had led to him having totally missed out on who Ladybug was.

It had been the perfect opportunity for him to learn the identity of his hated defender of Paris, and Spite's fury had prevented that.

Spite's civilian persona had some issues he needed to work out once Hawkmoth was done with him.

A sneak attack best suited the knife wielding villain. Him in a regular fight against Ladybug and Chat Noir was an unlikely fight he would win. That had been why Hawkmoth had told his underling to retreat. A more opportune time to strike would be required.

But Hawkmoth wasn't even sure if he could control the actions of Spite anymore.

He had tried to stop him. He had tried to display his power over the villain once before, to no avail. Spite possessed an incredible will, meaning that he didn't feel any negative reactions to Hawkmoth's powers. With The Evillustrator, the bestowing villain had the ability to freeze his movements, if only for a few moments. He had tried to same with spite. Nothing happened.

So Hawkmoth had to manipulate Spite.

He really, really, _really_ wished his powers just removed his subjects free will. It would make this a whole lot easier.

* * *

 **I should be warning you right now, College starts for me tomorrow... so updates may slow down. I'll try my best to keep updates regular for you, but my timetable for my days at college is a freakin mess, so I won't have as much freedom as I used to. Really sorry guys, but I'll try my hardest ^_^**

 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and if you did, be sure to follow my Wattpad, GamingEmpire , for more stories!**

 **You can also follow My YouTube, TheGamingEmpire for games, anime, and a planned review of Miraculous Ladybug!**

 **You can also follow my Tumblr, GamingEmpire, for blogs, artwork, sneak peaks, and more!**

 **Links to everything are in the profile as always, and I will see you in the next chapter of whatever it is I do indeed decide to write next. See ya!**


	26. Hunting And Hiding

While hunting down Akuma wasn't particularly anything new for the superhero duo, they normally went out looking for Akuma before they knew they even existed when out on patrol. Out and about, trying to prevent the damage before the damage even happened. This marked the first time they were actively searching the city for any signs of Spite, but he had basically erased himself from the city. No news, no crimes, no nothing that could be traced to the knife wielding villain. The upside to this was that Spite also wasn't anywhere to be found close to Marinette's home. Chat Noir had, every night, hung around the area for longer than was required to make sure that Spite wasn't anywhere around. No sign of him.

That was at least one good thing about this mess.

One would think that a man who wore bandages around his face like a Mummy, and was carrying enough knives on his person to choke a Basking Shark to death, would stand out in public, but no one seemed to have seen him, or indeed, even know that this particular Akuma had ever existed. Surly they should know about something like this? A villain who could damage and corrupt the very Links themselves?... No, the average citizen knew next to nothing about Links, and telling them now could cause them to go into a wild frenzy and panic.

The only logical conclusion the two heroes could come up with was that Spite was able to hide in a civilian form. This hadn't happened before. Whenever a person had been Akumatized previously, they had been unable to return to their civilian forms without being defeated, and the Akumatized object being destroyed, as well as the Akuma being purified.

If Akuma could now hide in their regular civilian alter-egos, then that added a whole new level of complexity to the whole Hawkmoth issue.

Ladybug sighed. She knew that this was her fault. But she couldn't focus on that right now. She had to focus on helping find Spite. That was the only way to make things right again.

Chat Noir - Adrien - Had told her he didn't blame her, but she knew he was lying. Who else _was_ there to blame? It had been her - Her actions, her decisions, her call to let Spite go. She was the one... The one who had caused all of this. Her choice and her call, and now, she knew she had to use all the various skills and abilities that she had to put things right.

That was the only way to fix all of this.

The two of them leaped from another rooftop above a busy street, before grinding to a halt on their heels. This marked a point in which they were going to survey the current area for any signals of Spite, Akuma, or anything that would require their attention. They did this every five or so miles that they travelled across.

Chat had been totally focused on finding Spite. The lack of progress frustrated him to no end, but he never once contemplated giving up. He knew how important that it was that they found Spite. "Another sector basically clean..."

"You... Think we'll ever find him?" Ladybug asked, looking out across the ancient French city. Roughly ten million people inhabited the capital of the country. The odds of finding this villain were literally a staggering ten-million to one. It wasn't unreasonable to think they'd never see him again.

"We'll find him." Chat assured her. "We'll find him. And we'll break him. And then we can stop worrying about him."

"I'm... Really regretting letting him go..."

"You did what you thought was best, LB." Chat told her softly.

"There's a difference..." Ladybug said, dejectedly. "There's a difference... Between doing what you think is right, and doing what _is_ right..."

"Lack of confidence doesn't suit you, my lady." Chat said, still looking out at the city. He hand covered his eyes, blocking out the sun so he could see, like a sun shield. "So what if you screwed up? As I recall, the first day I met you, I broke a football post, instead of the actual opponent in front of us with my Cataclysm."

The young heroine couldn't help but chuckle lightly at the memory she had of him during their first encounter. The memory that started all of this. All of these adventures with Chat Noir - With Adrien - That all led to these moments. The moments that she loved. The moments that she had enjoyed, even when she didn't know who Chat Noir was. Those moments... They were a large part of her life now.

"From your perspective, letting Spite go was the right call. From mine, it was the wrong one. You didn't want to risk everyone being like that forever. And Spite, weirdly, kept his word. I call that a win-win."

"But... Now he can do that to other people."

"That's what we're out here to stop, isn't it?" turning to face her, Chat smiled. "Don't let one mistake throw you off, Mari."

She smiled warmly. Even as Chat Noir, he had always given her good advice when she had needed it. when she had been too overconfident, too arrogant, even for her own good, it had always been Chat Noir who brought her back down to earth, weather she liked it or not. Adrien had always been there for her, whether either of them had known it or not.

It was just the pep talk she needed.

And then she punched him in the arm. "Code-names."

Chat grabbed the arm he had been punched on and smirked, rubbing his new light wound. "Good to have you back, LB."

* * *

It had been a long, and very unsuccessful hunt for Spite. No area in Paris even seemed remotely close to where the villain was. There was no sign of him. Like he never existed.

The reds and oranges in the evening sky bled together, to create a water-colors-like collage of bright colors, that only the black shadows of the buildings interrupted. Not an uncommon sight for Ladybug or Chat Noir. But still, it always captivated both of them with the beauty of it.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Ladybug said, commenting on the sunset around them to Chat, as both of them stopped atop yet another tall building, overlooking the Champ de Mars.

"Not nearly as beautiful as you, my lady."

"You never miss a chance to flirt, do you?"

"Nope." Chat said through his toothy grin. "That's not going to change any time soon."

"They might start working if you play your cards right." Ladybug told him with a flirtatious tone, leaning against him as they watched the colors bleed.

It would have been a perfect moment.

It also could have very easily been their last moments if Chat Noir's reflexes didn't surpass those of Spites.

One second, he wasn't there, and the next, Chat's baton was deflecting the knife wielding villain's butcher's knife, barely an inch away from his face. Spite's grin was there once more. He had been planning this.

"Just when I thought you were all tuckered out." Spite said with a chuckle to his voice, pushing away and skidding backwards to get some distance between him and the two heroes. "I suppose I shouldn't underestimate your stamina..."

For a brief moment, Ladybug hadn't been aware of what was happening, due to her own reflexes being a bit slower than Spite's and the cat heroes, but now she was up to speed, spinning her yo-yo at high speeds, ready to engage in some brutal combat. this time, she wouldn't let him get away. Not like he had last time.

"Have I not been a good boy?" Spite questioned, feigning injury by clutching his chest. "Didn't I hold up our agreement? Everyone went back to normal, did they not?"

"I don't recall ever saying that you could go be free _forever_." Ladybug told him sternly, already looking for a weakness in the villain's stance. There wasn't any. Spite was a walking pin-cushion, with so many weapons that any attempt to exploit any weakness was countered by more knives.

"Oh? A classic white lie?" Spite chuckled again, showing more of his teeth. "Telling the villain what they want to hear so that you can exploit them? And here I thought you were better than that, Ladybug..." Craning his neck, and making sure the two heroes could hear the cracks his bones made, the villain cracked a full Cheshire grin. "That's just what I love to see!"

With that, Spite charged once more, this time, specifically at Ladybug, due to her general defensive lacking capabilities. While she had a strong, magical yo-yo, this worked poorly in close quarters. Chat's baton was a good short-range weapon, easily capable of blocking knife lunges and attacks from Spite. Ladybug's yo-yo wouldn't work well with those distances.

Leaping backwards, Ladybug tossed her yo-yo at him, aiming to grab his arm and restrain him somewhat. Spite moved too quickly though, and dodged the attack, and a swing from Chat Noir's baton, before he leaped up at the retreating hero. With another throw, Ladybug this time managed to wrap up Spite in her yo-yo's tough cord, and threw him to the ground, slamming him with force and without hesitation. This was the first real hit either her of Chat Noir had got against Spite.

It didn't hold him for long though. Spite was out again in an instant, and then, tossed a huge hail-storm of knifes and other sharp objects at the young heroes, whom managed to block of deflect them. A few hit, but their suits protected them from pain or serious injury. There were hundreds, if not thousands of these weapons being thrown at them, making Ladybug wonder, had these come from some sort of ether? Was this another one of his powers? Weapon summoning?

Landing again, Spite was gone, once again. Nowhere to be seen.

"Where'd he go?" Chat asked, looking around desperately, with a scowl on his face. "Get back here!"

How was he disappearing? Was that yet another one of his powers?... Or was he just really good at hiding and disappearing as a natural ability? Did his outfit help him conceal himself into the darkness?... His cape would do wonders for that.

Chat Noir was clearly angry. He had been more focused on catching this maniac than Ladybug seemed to be. He skidded around the area, searching the place carefully, trying to make sure he hadn't missed a single thing. He punched a wall after a fruitless search. "Damn!..."

"I think he ran." Ladybug sighed. Yet another chance encounter with him, gone, scattered to the winds. She wanted to scream in her frustration. How stupid had she been, to take her eyes off him, for even a second? "Chat..."

" _Ladybug_!" Chat suddenly yelled, running towards her.

She only really figured out why he had begun to do this when she saw a darkness covered blade piercing her abdomen. There wasn't any blood. There wasn't even any real pain. But Ladybug knew - Marinette knew - That she had been stabbed. The mere knowledge of this caused her some psychosomatic pain in her gut. Nowhere near the level of pain a real stab wound would cause, but to her, it felt real enough.

Her eyes shot wide open, and her breathing stopped.

Holy crap, this hurt.

What was happening to her? Her vision began to blur, and she couldn't breathe. Had the suit failed? Was she going to suffer the full effect of a knife inside her gut?

It hurt...

Holy crap, it hurt...

"You thought I ran?..." Spite asked, whispering into Ladybug's ear. He smile and giggled to himself. " _Fatal_ mistake."

* * *

 **I make. No comment. : ) Those of you who have figured out Spite's powers and how they fully work will know whats coming.**

 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and if you did, be sure to follow my Wattpad, GamingEmpire , for more stories!**

 **You can also follow My YouTube, TheGamingEmpire for games, anime, and a planned review of Miraculous Ladybug!**

 **You can also follow my Tumblr, GamingEmpire, for blogs, artwork, sneak peaks, and more!**

 **Links to everything are in the profile as always, and I will see you in the next chapter of whatever it is I do indeed decide to write next. See ya!**


	27. Spite Versus Chat

The very next second, Spite was on the receiving end of a punch thrown by Chat, that threatened to break the young heroes own arm, for all the force he had put into it. Spite hadn't even managed to do a single thing after his taunt before he was slammed in the jaw by a strike that felt like a runaway train, sending him flying backwards a few meters as the force shot throughout his body. He took his knife with him, no longer impaling Ladybug's stomach.

The villain away from his love, Chat quickly caught her as she fell down, gently lowering her to the ground.

"Marinette..." Chat didn't remember to use code-names. What difference would it make right now anyway? He couldn't bring himself to cry out her name. When he tried to, it got caught in his throat. He couldn't shout her name. He couldn't scream her name. He couldn't even raise his voice.

In spite of that however, he was panicking. He had no idea how their miraculouses worked, if they prevented something like this, or if this really was a danger-zone. Sweat ran down his face like a waterfall. Something struck out at Chat Noir, when he properly went to look at Ladybug's wound, however.

She didn't _have_ one.

There was no wound. No cut clothing. No marks. No blood... Nothing. Her body was still warm, and her breathing... She was still breathing, albeit lightly, like she was sleeping.

Like she had never been stabbed.

She was okay?... Had it been luck?... Or had something been done to her?...

It didn't matter right now. She was okay. That was what was important. Chat laid her down gently on the floor, before he turned to a still recovering Spite. "What did you do to her?"

"Why would I tell you?" Spite asked, still grinning. Standing upright, he ran his fingers along the length of his butchers knife, taking the time to feel the blades cold, metallic, flat surface. "Keeping you guessing is a lot more entertaining."

This cocky, arrogant bastard... Chat Noir gritted his teeth and extended his baton again. "We'll see how entertaining it is when I throw you from a building!"

"Did I strike a nerve?"

"You struck the one nerve, that's connected to the one person that I'm prepared to beat you into a fine paste for!" Chat yelled, dashing straight towards Spite, his baton behind his neck, preparing to swing. Once in range, he struck with the extended metallic pole, aiming straight for the neck. The weapon moved with incomprehensible speed and precision.

Reflexes activating, Spite blocked the incoming strike with his butcher's knife. Despite such a flimsy weapon in comparison to his own, Chat noticed just how sturdy that particular weapon was. Such a strong blade, and capable, and the source of his powers, a weapon he was never seen without...

That was it.

Chat realized that knife had to be the source of the villain's powers. That changed his target. He had to destroy that knife, to stop Spite from being a threat to him, to Ladybug, to everyone in Paris. But getting that weapon away wouldn't be easy.

Using the baton as a stationary object to throw himself from, Chat used it like a pole, and swung around it, launching a solid roundhouse kick to the knife covered villain's face. It made direct contact with the cheekbone, causing Spite to stagger a bit, before he drew another serrated blade, and aimed to slash Chat's Femoral artery, located in the leg. Close proximity made it a very real threat to the teenage hero.

Chat was faster though, using the momentum of his kick to push back off of Spite's skull, and landing on the ground a few meters away from him. He used his claws to help come to a halt, digging them into the ground. As soon as he stopped sliding, he charged once again, this time with his palm outstretched, ready to slash at his target with rapid force.

Behind the weapon-crazed Akumatized individual, a dark mist appeared, and from it, hundreds of knives began to pour out, firing at the cat-themed hero. As this happened, Spite began to scream in anger and frustration at the young hero. It was his ultimate attack, acting like a knife-firing machine gun. He had pushed him this far. It took Chat Noir a few seconds to realized, he had used this ability once before, earlier, when hundreds of knives began firing at him and Ladybug not long ago.

Regardless of this, he was able to avoid each one of the deadly weapons, dashing left to right, not staying on one path for too long. His speed and reflexes that his miraculous gave him aiding him immensely here. He didn't even get scratched once by the blades. Once in range, Chat struck. While he was unable to reach the butchers knife, he was able to slam a direct reverse punch into Spite's stomach, before back-flipping out of the way of another slash towards the Subclavian artery.

He wasn't thinking anymore. He was acting on automatic.

Instinct.

 _'His movements are different'_. Spite noticed, tossing a set of military grade knives at the hero, who effortlessly dodged them, and struck again, with a kick to the lower ribs. ' _His actions are far more impulsive. Reckless. He isn't thinking about his moves anymore. He's just knocking in hits and then getting out of the way before I can retaliate. Like an animal.'_

Lost was reason to Chat Noir, who was encompassed by rage and anger that Spite had dared to hurt his Lady. He wanted Spite gone. He wanted Spite defeated. And if it wasn't for the fact that Adrien knew, that Chat Noir knew, the person behind that mask wasn't doing this by choice, he would have wanted him dead.

Cockiness replaced with frustration, Spite slashed again. "Get away!"

Magical energy surged into Chat's left hand, as a dark, bubbling, corrupting power formed in the palm of the young heroes hand. "Cataclysm!"

One final lunge ended the fight.

Spite attacked, aiming to stab Chat Noir's throat, to end him once and for all. He was fast, and had the attack made contact, Chat would have bled out in a matter of seconds.

But like a cat Chat's reflexes were perfect. He ducked to the right, avoiding the deadly strike. With his right hand, he grabbed hold of the wrist Spite held the knife in, and with full force, slammed his Cataclysm into the blade, disintegrating it. "No!"

Spite watched as the source of his powers melted in his hands, and the Akuma that was bestowing these powers emerged from the ashes, and began to fly away. Chat watched, unsure of what to do. His own powers couldn't do anything to an Akuma - The Akuma could get away, unless he tried something.

There were still traces of his Cataclysm powers.

The reality was, he had no idea how those powers would interact with an Akuma. Oh, he'd theorized what could happen. It could backfire into himself. It could just destroy the Akuma. Or it could have some effect he hadn't considered. He had no real way of knowing. After all, what evidence did he have to base all of this on?

He reached his hand out, and, with what little power he had left, crushed the Akuma with his left hand. Gone. In an instant.

He had his answer. That was what his powers did to an Akuma.

As he did this, Spite began to de-transform, into his civilian self. He was like any other person - A confused citizen, who had no idea what the hell was going on, where they were, or what they had done. "What the - Where the hell am I?"

Despite knowing exactly what had happened, that it wasn't this guy's fault, Chat felt a strong urge to punch the person in front of him. Knowing, willing or otherwise, this was still the person responsible for everything... For hurting Ladybug... For hurting Marinette... For...

...His better nature got the best of him though. He still threw an unfriendly, "Get out of here."

The teenager needed no second warning, and had left the area before Chat had even turned around to warn him again.

"Urgh... Chat?..."

Turning back to her, Chat's eyes began to well with tears.

Ladybug was up. She was alright. She looked dazed slightly, rubbing her head in confusion, and mild headache, but for the most part, she was fine. The knife had had no effect on her. She was okay.

"Oh thank God..." Chat said quietly, quickly rushing over to her and hugging her tightly. During the fight, despite focusing on defeating their enemy Spite, Chat had never, not for a second, stopped worrying about her. The love of his life. Had something happened to her... He honestly had no idea what it was that he would do.

But she was okay.

"Ch - Chat?!"

"I was worried about you..."

Ladybug almost seemed hesitant, but she returned the hug after a short while. The truth was, she didn't remember anything about the fight. Chat showing this emotion just surprised her.

"Come on, LB, let's get you home."

"So you can figure out who I am?" Ladybug asked, a smirk on her face. "No dice."

Chat froze. He looked at her, like she had just revealed something terrible to him. "What... What do you mean?"

"Chat... I'm used to it by now. This is another one of your efforts to find out who I am. I'm not falling for it. I didn't fall for the last eighty, I'm not gonna fall for one so... Direct."

Horror suddenly gripped Chat's heart as he remembered what Spite could do.

Spite's power was to alter the very Links between people.

He did that by making stabbing his targets with his butchers knife. From that point, he had the ability to alter and manipulate the links between people.

And Ladybug had been stabbed.

"R-Right, right..." chat said, forcing the most painful smile of his life. He repressed everything he had just learned as hard as he could, wanting it to go away from his mind. It didn't. The truth yelled back at him.

His and Ladybug's Soul Link had been severed.

Spite had ended them.

Chat felt his heart shatter in completely unbearable and agonizing pain. It took every single pace of willpower he had left to not burst into tears right there and then. How... How had this happened?... Why did he still feel...

If the Soul Link was cut... Then shouldn't he also not love her anymore?... Maybe it was because he hadn't been attacked... But he still loved her, with everything he had.

"L-Lady... Mar - "

 _'Beep Beep Beep Beep.'_

In that moment, Chat's miraculous began to beep. The signal that he was about to revert back to Adrien. It didn't bother him at all, since Marinette knew... But now... She didn't know, apparently. Ladybug forgot... Everything that had happened between the two of them. Was it... Did the effects of what the Soul Link being severed cause some sort of amnesia?

"You'd better go." Ladybug told him, grabbing hold of her own yo-yo, preparing to make her exit.

"Right..." She really didn't remember. She didn't remember what they had. Who Chat Noir was... And she didn't care...

How had it ended up like this?...

"Are you alright?"

"...I guess so..." The single biggest lie Adrien had ever told anyone in his life. How could he be okay? After that... How could he ever, ever be okay?

"Well... I'll see you later, Chat." Ladybug said, throwing her yo-yo skyward, and swinging away, back to her family's home once again. Chat knew exactly where she was going. She didn't need to even try hiding it. He always knew where she'd go...

Alone, reality came crashing down on Chat Noir.

Ladybug was gone.

Marinette was gone.

The person who made him happy... The person he loved oh-so much...

The person he had known...

The one person who made him happy...

She was gone.

He fell to his knees, and cried his eyes out. He didn't even stop when his miraculous wore off. He didn't stop when Plagg begged him to. He didn't stop for anything.

She was gone.

And he was alone.

Again.

* * *

 **I'm so sorry Adrien ;-;**

 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and if you did, be sure to follow my Wattpad, GamingEmpire , for more stories!**

 **You can also follow My YouTube, TheGamingEmpire for games, anime, and a planned review of Miraculous Ladybug!**

 **You can also follow my Tumblr, GamingEmpire, for blogs, artwork, sneak peaks, and more!**

 **Links to everything are in the profile as always, and I will see you in the next chapter of whatever it is I do indeed decide to write next. See ya!**


	28. How It's Changed

The extent of Marinette's amnesia seemed to extend to all her memories of Chat, and it wasn't bad enough that she forgot about the superhero. It wasn't bad enough she didn't remember what the actual two of them had, what the two of them felt for one another. It wasn't bad enough their established Soul Link had been cut. It wasn't bad enough that she forgot all about her and his relationship.

She'd forgotten everything.

 _Everything_.

Even her feelings for Adrien.

Speaking to her now, she was indifferent, almost cold. Not outright hostile, but she just didn't seem as warm to him as she was to everyone else. That warm, loving personality that she expressed, the personality everyone knew Marinette for, the personality that everyone loved about her, just seemed to turn to ice around Adrien. It hadn't gone unnoticed by the people around her. People had known about her love of the blond model... Although, they had never gotten around to actually announcing their relationship to everyone around them before Spite had showed up. Now it just seemed like Marinette had totally changed her mind about Adrien. It was so weird, so surprising, so... Un-Marinette. No one had expected such a dramatic change from the blue haired girl.

She was still friendly... But almost fake-friendly. Like she didn't even want to be friendly to him.

It had been a harrowing few days for Adrien, slugging it out, day by day. He hadn't turned into Chat Noir since that day. There hadn't really been a point. And he suffered enough, seeing Marinette there at school, every single day. He knew exactly who she was, and what she was like. What she did, and he was painfully , painfully aware of just how much she meant to him. He didn't need the painful reminder every night either.

That was a call to duty he wasn't prepared to answer. He wasn't strong enough.

At school, life continued as normal, and thankfully, excluding Marinette, everyone else was back to normal too. No after-effects of Spite's power-trip. Thankfully, there were no outstanding effects now that the Link destroyer was taken care of.

That didn't bring Adrien much reassurance though.

He'd tried to talk to her again and again... But it just wasn't the same. Talking to Marinette was normally a warm, lovely experience. Something he had so enjoyed... She spoke so kindly around him before Spite had destroyed their Link. It was obvious with her voice and actions that she did care about him, and just hearing her talk made Adrien feel warm. Now it was like talking to a snowman. She didn't seem to want to talk to him, that him talking to her was something that heavily inconvenienced her. That wasn't to say he stopped trying.

The third day was marked for him as one of the biggest attempts he had made. During the breaks between classes, Alya and Marinette would often hang out. In fact it wasn't inaccurate to call that the norm. That was fine in itself, but that didn't give Adrien a lot to work with.

On this particular day however, Marinette was going over the various drawings in her design book with Alya for whatever reason. It was the same book Adrien had seen her show him before, but her enthusiasm for such things never ceased. He smiled gently, remembering a few of the designs she had shown him.

Thinking back now... He wanted to say more about them to her. He wanted to say so many more things to her. Do so many more things with her. For all he knew... He'd lost her.

For good.

The thought pierced his heart, and before he'd known it, he was going over plans to try and win her back, in spite of the Soul Link being severed. He'd find a way, even if it took him years and years to build up that trust with her again. And he wouldn't let himself be held back by his own awkwardness or worries. He's show her just how much he loved her. He'd show her just how much she meant to him.

Of course, that all relied on him making some sort of progress with her.

* * *

"What's happening with you two, Adrien?" Alya wasn't someone you wanted to upset, especially when it came to Marinette. She really was a force to be reckoned with. She probably would have hit him in the stomach were it not clear he was visually upset with how that mess had just gone down.

Adrien sighed. He had attempted to join the conversation the two of them had been having. That had gone fine enough, albeit to Marinette's visual chagrin, and, as a way of trying to speak to Marinette, he asked her about her designs. That hadn't gone over well. Marinette seemed very defensive about them. Apparently, forgetting about him also included forgetting about moments the two of them had shared previously. She claimed to be very particular about who she let see her designs, and then left, leaving Alya and Adrien alone, and the blond model mentally punching himself in the face.

It was difficult to hide his clear upset. Gritted teeth and fists tightened, as well as refusing to look at anyone, instead opting to glare down at the floor, hoping his hair would hide his face. Alya knew how Adrien was, but she couldn't remember a time where he looked so... Rejected by her. He bounced back better during the first time they ever _met_ , and that had ended in outright _hostility_. He looked worse now, for whatever reason.

Spite's abilities seemed to leave all of his victims with some amount of amnesia, as Alya didn't seem to remember the encounter she had had with Adrien when he was going to go on his date with Marinette, and it seemed those effects varied. Nino claimed to not remember any arguments, while Alya claimed not to remember a few days, and Marinette had the most specific affliction, able to remember days and events, but none of her romantic memories.

The blond hero wasn't sure who had it worst, but he know which one made him feel the worst.

"I... I don't know, Alya." Adrien said, still not looking at the blogger. "I... I don't know..."

Alya just couldn't understand it. Marinette had always liked Adrien, and now she was acting like he had personally insulted her entire family and way of life. "Did you do something to her?"

"No, of course not..."

It didn't take much to convince Alya. She knew Adrien wasn't the type of person to upset someone intentionally. She sighed, unsure of what it was that she should do now. "I don't get her sometimes..."

Adrien wanted to tell Alya it wasn't Marinette's fault. He wanted to explain to her. He wanted to let her know what happened... But he knew he couldn't. He knew that. But that didn't stop him from wanting to. "...Go easy on her, okay? May - Maybe she's going through a rough time?..."

"I'd know though." Alya shrugged, folding her arms, still confused by her friend's newfound apathy towards Adrien. She was worried. She honestly wasn't sure what to make of her friends personality anymore.

* * *

Marinette sat in her room that evening, looking over her own design documents, flipping over the pages, looking over her old designs again, out of sheer boredom.

Her thoughts weren't in the best order. They hadn't been for a few days now. She felt weird, like something wasn't right. It was just an odd sensation she was feeling right now, something she couldn't quite explain. And it was something that she couldn't stand.

Once more, she sighed. Adrien Agreste in particular was someone who was driving her crazy these days. For whatever reason, she couldn't quite remember a lot about him, and she felt almost hostile around.

There was just something about that blond boy that she couldn't stand. She kept up the social facade, of course. There wasn't any reason for her disliking him, but she just did. Something about him was just... She growled, irritated.

But she didn't remember any reason for it... So why was that?

So why was she feeling this way?

She didn't know.

She just didn't know.

Not only that, Chat Noir had apparently just decided to go AWOL for whatever reason. She hadn't seen him in days, leaving her to go on patrols on her own. That hadn't done anything to help improve her mood.

Come to think of it, he had been acting weird as well the last time she had seen him...

She shrugged.

What a mess of a life she was living right now.

* * *

 **I'm very sorry for this chapter... But this is getting tough to write. I may have a bit of writers block for Soul Link, but I still totally intend to finish it. I hope you guys do understand. I also hope you do understand that updates have been slower, since college is a thing still. Second year Games Development is certainly a challenge : / Updates have slowed down, but I'm doing everything I can to keep up my updates.**

 **Also, Next Thursday, I'll be going to Eurogamer In Birmingham with my college, so if you're there, see if you can spot me. (Boy, that'll be bloody interesting to see if anyone hunts me down xD) I am PLANNING to have my hair dyed for the event - Half red, half white. Imagine Shouto Todoroki form My Hero Academia - I freaking love his design, and it's freaking EGX, might as well get my full nerd on. IF this does happen, I'll be sure to let you know, and I should be fairly obvious. That's assuming any of you actually go, anyway xD Just a heads up on the off chance you are.**

 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and if you did, be sure to follow my Wattpad, GamingEmpire , for more stories!**

 **You can also follow My YouTube, TheGamingEmpire for games, anime, and a planned review of Miraculous Ladybug!**

 **You can also follow my Tumblr, GamingEmpire, for blogs, artwork, sneak peaks, and more!**

 **Links to everything are in the profile as always, and I will see you in the next chapter of whatever it is I do indeed decide to write next. See ya!**


	29. Cause Of Conflict

"Where the heck have _you_ been?"

Those were the first words Ladybug had to say to Chat Noir when he finally showed up after not joining her for their normal patrols for the past three days, and needless to say, she was very annoyed with him. From him acting strange after the last Akuma they dealt with, to now, she was convinced that something was wrong with the damned cat, and it was starting to get on her nerves.

"...Personal problems."

Chat didn't know how else to respond. He didn't know what to say. The truth was, he didn't even want to be here. Three days of this had been sheer hell for him, and he was here, only because Plagg had pushed him towards doing one thing.

Explaining to her exactly what happened.

He hadn't done it originally because he didn't want to drive her away. If this was Ladybug now - If this was Marinette now - And explaining what happened to her didn't help remind her, or snap her out of the lingering after-effects of Spite, or anything else for that matter, then he had to accept that this was the girl he had to live with now. And if that was the case, the last thing he wanted to do was drive her away.

It was cowardice. That was all it was, he thought to himself.

Just pure cowardice.

"You didn't think to at least let me know?" Oh, the tone of her voice made her feelings abundantly clear. She was angry. It was rare to see her purely angry. It was rare to see Marinette so purely angry. It felt surreal. Like it didn't naturally fit with the kind of person she was.

"Sorry, Ladybug..." Chat Noir sighed, still reluctant to go through with this. Could he do it another time?... He doubted she'd take the news he had to tell her all that well in her current frame of mind.

Maybe things would be different if Ladybug had used her ability to reverse all the damage done... But since damage to the city was basically negligible, aside from there being a few knives scattered around the place, and she herself didn't remember the fight, there wasn't a need to, from her perspective. Spite had put the Links back together himself, so her powers wouldn't have done anything. Agreeing to let Spite go had secured the lack of a need for Marinette's Miraculous Ladybug ability, thus leading to her not using it and fixing her and Adrien's Soul Link, since she had no awareness of it.

It was all very ironic.

"You realize I've been dealing with criminals without any back up, right? A notice would have been appreciated!" Something almost felt wrong about this entire aspect of Ladybug's - Of Marinette's - Personality. She seemed almost infuriated by Chat Noir, as opposed to being mildly annoyed by him. Her usual sweet personality had been pushed aside in place of this more angry persona.

It had to be down to stress. Or something like that.

"...Look, Ladybug... We uh... We... We need to talk..."

"Yes, we do! I thought we were supposed to be a team! A team-mate can't just up and leave without so much as a memo!"

"Not about me not -"

"No, we _are_ going to talk about -"

"Marinette." Chat spoke, firmly, and rather loudly, cutting off Ladybug's yelling, stopping her dead in her tracks. Once she had fully stopped, and he had let out a sigh through his nose, Chat looked at her. "We need to talk, Marinette."

Ladybug's eyes were wide open at this point, her jaw ajar, and clearly surprised. Stunned in disbelief for a few moments, she blinked, looking at the partner she had in front of her. How the hell did he know? "...What did you call me?"

"Marinette." Chat repeated.

"I - I don't know what you're talking about." A very poor lie.

"Marinette... I know that it's you under there. Your Kwami is called Tikki, you live in a bakery about... I'd say ten minutes away from here, and you attend Collège Françoise Dupont." He let that sink in with the visibly taken aback super-heroine before he continued. "Like I said, we need to talk."

Understandably, Ladybug was shocked beyond all comprehension. How had Chat discovered all of this information... Was that what his ' _personal reasons_ ' were for not showing up to patrol? Had he been... "Have you been freaking _stalking_ me?!"

"No! No! Absolutely not!" Chat protested vehemently, holding his open palms up as a sign of innocence. "I - I wouldn't do - "

"Then how the hell did you figure all that out?!"

Chat Noir sighed, knowing that he wasn't able to back down now. Despite the reservations he had, he explained everything to her. He explained about the messages of the Miraculouses. He explained about the concept of the Links, the Soul Links, how they worked, and how they were formed. He explained everything that happened from his perspective, his rejection from Ladybug, the pain he felt for that, how he wound up becoming friends, and eventually falling for Marinette, the joy he felt when he learned that Marinette was Ladybug. He told her, with a particular fondness to his voice, how she had kissed him once she had learned who he was - Which he refused to tell her, on the basis that this didn't help her recover her memories. The last thing he needed was Ladybug coming for him with a vengeance - He told them about their date, and how they ended up as boyfriend and girlfriend.

He explained to her, with a particular disdain, the appearance of Spite, and the powers he wielded. He explained to her about the sadistic and psychotic Akumatized individual, and what he could do. How he changed the Links of the people around him. How he had done that to Nino and Alya, and the various others. He told her about the deal she made with the villain, to change her friends Links back to normal in exchange for Spite's freedom.

With a heavy heart, he explained to her the battle. How she was stabbed. And how the Link between them was shattered.

He told her then that they had shared a Soul Link, but that she couldn't remember.

To her credit, Ladybug listened. She didn't interrupt. She let Chat explain himself.

But then she took a step back.

"You're insane."

"M-Marinette, I -"

"Do not call me that!" She looked shaken, confused, and absolutely terrified by Chat Noir's mental state right now. She was convinced he'd hallucinated all of this, but the eerie fact remained, he knew who she was. He hadn't imagined that...

So he actually believed all of this insanity. He had been stalking her... And this...

This...

"You're a freaking lunatic..."

"Mari - Ladybug, you know I wouldn't lie to you. I've told you that - "

"Apparently that doesn't extend to not stalking me!" Ladybug felt a mixture of emotions all at once, stopping her from thinking even slightly clearly.

Anger.

Confusion.

Vulnerability.

Betrayal.

Above all, she felt one particular emotion towards Chat Noir right now. Something that, despite all the frustrations, despite all the flirting, despite everything like that, the things she could work with, the things she knew how to deal with... She felt something she never expected towards the 'hero' in front of her.

Hatred.

"Is that... Is that what your personal reasons were for?!" She yelled now, not holding back an inch. "For your... Sick, freaking... Stalking games?!"

"Ladybug, I swear to you, I didn't stalk you! Ask - Ask Tikki! She can vouch for what I'm saying!" This couldn't be going worse, Chat thought to himself. This could not be going any worse than it already was. It could not physically be worse than this.

"You'd like that, wouldn't you!" Another accusation came, hurled at Chat. "You'd like me to transform back into weak, defenseless Marinette! You - You perverted freak!" If the previous accusations hadn't hurt Chat, that one definitely did. Just the mere idea that he would ever - Ever - Do something to her that she didn't want... That she... That she'd ever think he would... Just the thought made him sick, but she still wasn't done. "You tell me all of this, and you won't even tell me who the hell you are under that mask! And you expect me to believe all of this?!" Hypocritical, since she was the one who insisted on their identities being kept secret, but to hell with that right now!

"I'm - " He wanted to say it was him. That It was Adrien Agreste. That it was that blond model with the green eyes that sat in front of her at school, that that was how he knew all of this.

But given how angry she was now... Would that alone be enough?

Given how much she hated Adrien as it was?...

No... It wouldn't.

He couldn't tell her.

Not until he found a potential way to restore her memories. If he told her who he was... There was a serious risk of her letting other people know, or of her attacking him.

"You're _what_?" Ladybug demanded, her fists firmly by her waistline, trembling as the clenched them to the point she could feel her nails dig into her skin, despite them both being covered by her jumpsuit.

"... An idiot." Chat sighed, sadly. How could he have expected her to take his word for it? To understand all of this without proof? To accept all of it so blindly... How could he have done that? How? How had he been able to even consider that?

 _'You're a coward, Adrien. You're an idiot, and you're a coward.'_

A few tense seconds passed, Chat's head slumped forward, looking at the ground, defeated. Ladybug wanted to punch him off the building for all intents and purposes. She had to restrain herself, remember that she was a heroine. And a heroine didn't do that sort of thing to another person, even if they were... Whatever the hell Chat had become.

"Stay away from me." She warned, growling as she said so, viciously, so much so that it hurt the back of her own throat. "Don't come anywhere near me. Don't talk to me. Don't even look at me... And if I see you again..." She let the threat linger in the wind.

Chat Noir didn't respond as she roped away.

Instead, he just cried.

* * *

Tikki was worried. Absolutely worried for Marinette. She was furious beyond all words. Fuming almost. If she was any more red with anger she could probably start bleeding, and no one would notice the difference. The had thrown out anything even slightly resembling Chat Noir, including the dolls she herself had made, now located in the bin under her desk, along with every poster she had of Adrien.

It actually scared Tikki to even speak.

"Marinette..." The tiny Kwami called out, in what was more a whisper than anything else. Catching Marinette's attention, she carried on, albeit nervously. "What... What Chat Noir said... It's true you know..."

"What? That trash about Links? You're telling me that's all true?" Marinette didn't even sound surprised.

"Well, yes, but that's not - "

"Okay, let's assume that it _is_ true!" Marinette said, turning around. "He still freaking _stalked_ me! He still followed me back here! He still figured out who the hell I was without me ever telling him!"

"That's not exactly true..."

"Tikki, I don't care about technicalities right now!" Marinette yelled back. Had her parents been home, she could have one hundred percent been heard. "He knows who I am! He knows where I live! It's bad enough having to put up with Adrien every day, but now I have to deal with the possibility of Chat coming here to - To - To - Do _God knows_ what to me! I'm not concerned about the specifics when I have to worry about a stalker breaking into my room at night to do... God, I don't know!"

The small Kwami swallowed. Since Spite had attacked her, she had forgotten about Adrien, about her feelings for him, about how much she loved him. How badly Tikki had wanted to speak up... How badly she had wanted to tell Marinette the truth...

But it was against the rules. They were on way too slippery a slope already. Pushing Marinette any further could result in her snapping and killing Chat Noir. As it stood right now, she could already sense a blood-lust coming from the blunette girl. She hadn't been joking when she said that she would... Do something to Chat if she saw him again. While Marinette hadn't vocalized her threat, Tikki knew what she had in mind.

She'd hang him from the Eiffel tower with her yo-yo.

That was how dangerously close they were to a total and utter disaster.

That was why Tikki couldn't speak up. The wrong word... And Chat Noir's corpse would be a decoration for the French landmark.

What Tikki couldn't understand was why Marinette's Miraculous wasn't sending out messages. In this situation, if the Soul Link was in serious danger, Miraculous holders were lucky, and could repair them, thanks to their magical objects sending them the messages, the riddles, the poems to warn them.

But it wasn't working for Marinette.

It was like their connection wasn't even shattered.

Wasn't...

Shattered...

It suddenly dawned on Tikki, her eyes widening as she figured it out. That was why the effects were still lingering after Spite's fall. That was why Marinette had quickly gained a dislike for Adrien, despite having little to no interaction with him after the battle had gone down.

This wasn't Marinette's fault. She had been _manipulated_ to think this way.

If their Link had been broken, she would have felt nothing about Adrien - Not just romantically. She would have no emotions, positive or negative, towards him whatsoever.

But she now hated him. That could only happen if there was still a Link between them.

Their Soul Link hadn't been _shattered_.

It had been _corrupted_.

Spite's power hadn't been Link _Destruction_. It had been Link A _lteration_. When he had stabbed Ladybug, he hadn't tried to kill her, he hadn't tried to shatter their Links... He was completing an objective, set to him by Hawkmoth.

Hawkmoth wanted the Paris duo _separated_.

And he'd _succeeded_.

Tikki had figured it out.

And she couldn't say a thing to _warn_ them!

* * *

Why?

Adrien laid on his bed, staring at the ceiling. Hadn't he been here before? He had that sense of déjà vu, that he'd already been through this mess once before.

Oh yes. He remembered exactly where that had come from. From his rejection from Ladybug when the Soul Links first became a thing they became aware of. How she hadn't meant it, but had inadvertently shattered his heart into a thousand pieces.

It was pretty much exactly like that again, wasn't it?

He stared up at the ceiling and just asked, why? Adrien wasn't particularly religious, but now he was convinced there was some sort of God who was getting a kick put of watching him squirm and suffer like this.

' _Enjoying yourself, you sadistic bastard?_ ' He thought to himself at this fictional entity he had just created in his mind.

Thinking from a pragmatic stance, Adrien was happy about one thing. He was happy Marinette was, at least, safe. She was, at least, healthy. She was, at least, for the most part, happy, although his own stupid actions might have seriously jeopardized that. She was at least safe...

It was enough to know she was happy... That she was safe...

That version of events just hurt a lot more.

A _lot_ more.

Plagg had apologized for pushing Adrien to do that. He had apologized time and time again, showing his kinder side once more to the blond model. Having an understanding of the Soul Links, Plagg knew exactly how much this must hurt, how much pain this would cause any individual who had been through what Adrien had been. How happy he had been, only to have it abruptly ripped away from him.

The Kwami was honestly impressed Adrien hadn't done something he would have deeply regretted yet. He was strong to not have done that. Plenty of Chat Noir's before him had done. Some had died young thanks to it.

"Kid... You're not gonna give up on her are you?"

"I'm... Content knowing she's happy and safe..." Despite his statement, there was clearly an upset tone to the hero's voice. His emotions were betraying his words. He was as see through as a pane of glass.

"...You're kidding yourself, kid." Plagg said, knowing full well the pain Adrien was in. Denying that pain wouldn't bring any happiness or closure. Plagg had seen it too many times.

Adrien forced a smile that showed his perfect white teeth, as the tears ran down his face. "I know I am, buddy."

* * *

 **The aim of this chapter was to address a few issues you guys came up with in relation to how this story was playing out, so I hope I was able to fill in the plot-holes this story had, that you guys pointed out so very clearly to me ^_^**

 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and if you did, be sure to follow me for more stories!**

 **You can also follow my for more stories from me!**

 **Be sure to follow my Wattpad, GamingEmpire, to get updates sooner, and to have more interactivity from me!**

 **You can also follow My YouTube, TheGamingEmpire for games, anime, and a planned review of Miraculous Ladybug!**

 **You can also follow my Tumblr, GamingEmpire, for blogs, artwork, sneak peaks, and more!**

 **Links to everything are in the profile as always, and I will see you in the next chapter of whatever it is I do indeed decide to write next. See ya!**


	30. News Of Alters

"How are things with your girlfriend?"

It marked the first time Gabriel had ever, ever taken an interest in Adrien's life, not because he wanted to control it, but because he was genuinely curious. Adrien was holding up his end of their deal, his modelling shoots were the very icon of perfection, he was doing well in his classes, and he was attending all of the activities he was assigned by his father. While he didn't entirely approve, if Adrien was going to keep up his end of the deal, he would too.

Although Adrien had to wonder, could his father have picked a worse time to have an interest in his life?

While it was late, Gabriel had come to speak to his son, just a few minutes after Chat Noir had sneaked back into his room and turned back into Adrien. Had he been just five minutes earlier, Adrien would have had to explain where the hell he had been. That was something he could be thankful for. He didn't need more complications.

"Fine." Adrien lied through his teeth. It physically hurt him to say. He knew why he was lying. He didn't want his father to be proven right. Just once... Just for once, he wanted something that he could have as his, something he could say he was right about, and that his father was wrong about.

Marinette hated him now. But he just... Didn't want to admit it. At least not to Gabriel.

"I see." Gabriel acknowledged, and made a mental note of, his son's quick and simple remark. The older man cleared his throat. "I would be interested in meeting her."

"O-Oh?" Adrien bit his tongue.

"I'd like you to request her presence here for dinner this weekend, at her convenience." Gabriel said, sounding like he was arranging a formal business meeting. Knowing the kind of person he really was, this was probably a similar sort of thing to him. "Give me a list of her preferred meals, and I'll have the chef's prepare something she should find acceptable."

"...Yes, father." What else could Adrien say? He didn't even want to admit to himself that Marinette wanted nothing to do with him, never-mind his overarching father.

Gabriel then left the room, having said what he had wanted to say to his son, leaving Adrien with the biggest pang of guilt and sadness since he had come back home.

Could this get any worse? Was it even possible at this point?

* * *

What the heck was he supposed to do now?

Adrien hadn't moved from his bed even slightly since the previous night. What was he supposed to do? He didn't know what to do?

What the hell was he supposed to _do_?

He regretted saying what he did to Ladybug, to Marinette... He truly regretted it, so freaking much. There wasn't enough words to describe how much he regretted it, but he was totally out of ideas. He'd said it. It was done now. It had all happened. And now, this was where he was at.

Was this... The way things were going to be from now on? Was he going to have to live knowing that Marinette hated him, and that Ladybug literally wanted to kill him? Was that something he just had to... Accept? That Chat Noir couldn't go out anymore, for risk of ending up being killed by the very person he'd had every intention of dedicating himself to in every way imaginable?

That his Soul Mate was going to spend the rest of her life hating him, while he longed for her to return?

Did this... Was this how this had to be now?

At this point, he wasn't even surprised that it always seemed to happen to him. But...

".. Kid, this is my fault, I know." Plagg said, catching Adrien's attention. The Kwami sounded an odd mix of remorseful and determined. Anything other than indifference sounded weird from Plagg, so naturally, actual emotions from the Kwami caught the young models attention. "I know I'm the one who told you to tell Ladybug about the Soul Links and everything... But you're kidding yourself if you're telling yourself that you're fine with this."

Adrien would have laughed if he wasn't in such crippling emotional pain. Plagg had hit the nail on the head. For a creature that talked about next to nothing but cheese, and claimed to care for little more than the favorite aforementioned food, he was surprisingly perceptive. He was correct of course. Adrien hated this. He hated that this was how things had turned out... But what the hell could he do? "Exactly what choice do I have, Plagg?... There isn't anything I can do..."

"So you're just giving up on her?"

"It's what she said she wants..."

"No, it's not! You know that it's because of Spite that she's acting this way!"

Sighing, Adrien rolled over to look away from the Kwami. An in vain attempt, as he knew Plagg could just hover in front of him if he wanted to be seen, but he couldn't bring himself to care.

It wasn't that he wanted to give up on her. Of course not. He could punch Plagg for even insinuating that. He never wanted to... But he was totally out of ideas. Talking to her yielded no results, and telling her the total truth caused her to want to never see him again. And when you're threatened with death if the person you want to help so much as sees you, that seriously limits your options to do much of anything.

What could he do? What choices did he even have?

"Plagg... If you've got an idea, believe me, I am _all_ ears, buddy."

That feeling of absolute helplessness covered over him like a sheet, encasing him into a cocoon. It had been a long, long time since he had felt so... Absolutely nihilistic about anything at all... He missed her.

He missed Marinette.

"Oh for the love of Kwami's." Plagg sighed, exasperated. "That's it, I can't do this anymore."

An eyebrow was suddenly raised by Adrien as he turned to look at his partner. What was he talking about? Do what? "Wait, what?"

"The hell with the rules - Kid, I'm gonna put this as bluntly as I can. Marinette has been manipulated. She does not think these things about you, and your Soul Link isn't even shattered, it's been altered!" Plagg threw all causation to the wind. Rules about explaining a Soul Link and their status, rules about interfering with how things had to happen how they had to - Plagg couldn't care less anymore. This entire situation was driving him crazy with guilt and frustration that he just couldn't help himself anymore. "I can promise you right now that like that, Marinette is not going to be even the tiniest bit happy. Do you seriously intend to leave her like that?"

Each word Plagg had said had made Adrien's eyes go wider and wider. For the first time all day, he shot straight up off his mattress. His jaw was on the very verge of unhinging and swinging open like a loose door-frame. "Wh... Wait a second, Plagg, you mean..."

"It's possible to turn her back to normal."

That was like being shot by hope itself. Like an arrow had just lodged itself in Adrien's ribcage. He had to process a lot of information that was being thrown at him all at once. The first one being that these weren't entirely independent actions Marinette was taking. Adrien knew that Spite had been the one to edit the Soul Link between them... Marinette hadn't stopped loving him by choice... But part of why he hadn't gone to the extremes he would have done otherwise was because he was under the impression that she still had free will. According to Plagg, this wasn't the case. Additionally, he could change her back to normal? To her original personality? The one that was... Actually her?

Suddenly, he was angry. "And you didn't think to mention this four days ago?!"

"There are rules I'm supposed to obey kid. We could very easily end up with you or Marinette six feet under by me even telling you this!" Saying that, the black Kwami shuddered, clearly not wanting to entertain the possibility of his human partner winding up dead. "The only reason I _am_ telling you is because its my own fault that Ladybug now wants you six feet under!"

While the model couldn't claim to understand the rules and regulations that a Kwami had to follow, he was able to understand that much at least. Plagg cared... Though he had an odd way of showing it. "Right... Sorry Plagg." He said, humbly. "So, what's the deal then?"

Plagg nodded, indicating he held no ill will towards the human in front of him. He then began to explain. "Basically Marinette is on the receiving end of Spite's influence. She feels hatred towards you, which is what is corrupting the Link. Eventually, it would reach you too. You'd end up bitter, and eventually, you'd hate her too."

While he knew it was the case, just hearing that Marinette hated him still made Adrien feel like he had just died a little inside. "So... How do we fix it?"

"Truth be told, I haven't got a clue." Plagg admitted. "Links are rarely corrupted this way. We haven't... Dealt with a situation like this one before. There was one past occurrence, but that one was because Tikki had too much faith in her partner where it was unfounded... It didn't end well for the Chat Noir at the time." Shuddering st the memory, Plagg shook his head. "Anyway, you'd need to do something... Dramatic, and I can't really think of anything in particular that would work... And after Ladybug's threat..."

"I get it." Adrien said, looking out his window. "It's gonna be dangerous."

"It's... Going to be really, really, _really_ dangerous, kid. The odds are seriously against you, even if you had a plan. Ladybug's are... Always stronger than Chat Noir's are."

He understood the risks. Ladybug was inherently stronger than him already, he had no doubt about that. That was why she was the leader of their duo. That's why he was convinced that she wouldn't need his help if she went solo, like she said she was going to do. She was skilled, she was confident, and she had powerful abilities. There was a reason that she was so much more popular than Chat was, and it wasn't to do with looks. He had fallen in battle many-a-time, and Ladybug had been the one to save him, and the day, virtually all the time. She did more, accomplished more impressive feats, and was easily the far superior hero of the two of them.

He had no doubt she could take him out in a fight if that's what it came down to. And she was stubborn - Of course it would come down to a fight.

Even with a plan, it was unlikely he could do anything to beat her in a fight.

He goes in for a fight with her, and he was looking at a loss, without question.

"Kid... What do you wanna do?" Plagg asked, knowing what Adrien was thinking.

Sighing, Adrien looked out at the city of Paris. That would be the battleground. A lot of people would see their fight. A lot of people would ask questions about the duo of the French city. And while the bystanders would be in danger, Chat would be the one in the most danger.

It would have been easy to say he didn't want to do it.

But the thought of refusing to do it never even crossed Adrien's mind. Marinette wasn't herself, and now he knew she didn't even have what someone could charitably call free will. She was being manipulated... And according to Plagg, she couldn't be happy like that. He couldn't even begin to think about leaving her like that. Not even for a moment.

Even if it risked him dying, he'd never forgive himself to abandoning her like that.

"We're gonna save Marinette. Or, I'm gonna get killed trying."

Plagg sighed. "I had a feeling you were gonna say that. You're more predictable than a children's book." He hovered by his determined friends head and perched himself on his shoulder. "Why'd I have to end up with the one blockhead in this city who's a love-obsessed moron?"

It was a Plagg trademarked attempt to lighten the mood. Whenever he made that sort of comment, Adrien knew Plagg was trying to make light of a dark situation. He responded in kind. "You'd miss me if I weren't here."

"You're right, I would - So make sure you are here by the end of this." Plagg warned.

Adrien smirked. It was good to know he cares, he thought, before he realized he couldn't promise that. He'd do whatever it took - Whatever it took - To save Marinette. He couldn't guarantee his own safety. And he wouldn't tell his Kwami that he would be okay when he couldn't guarantee he would be. He didn't make the promise. With his smile still on his face, he uttered the simple words. "Claws out, Plagg."

* * *

Leaping from rooftop to rooftop, Chat scanned the city for the girl he was going to save. He was relying in her being in her Ladybug form, as spotting her in the streets in her regular clothes would be like finding a needle in an ocean. She stood out, of course, but from the rooftops, at speed, surrounded by a hundred people?

Red would be far easier to spot from a distance.

He was in luck when he visited her home, only to discover she was, in fact, absent from the bakery in question. While entirely possible that she was just in the streets taking a talk or whatever, this did indicate she could be in her superhero costume, doing deeds around the city. There was at least a chance of that. Short of her being in her bedroom, that was the next best option.

He'd prefer to not have a fight that would result in her home being blow apart.

As much as he hated it, he knew this would come down to a fight. And he had to save her... So he would fight.

Leaping away from the blue haired girl's home, Chat quickly ran through all the areas Ladybug would be most likely to visit. He didn't have the longest list in the world, but he thought to himself, where would he go patrolling if he was going to do this alone?

The answer he came up with was the exact same route he and Ladybug took. There wasn't a reason for him not to. Their route covered the majority of the city, and went over the very famous landmarks. It was designed to take both of them through the most crowded areas where the chances of activity were the highest, so they could respond as quickly as possible. Why would he change the route? Why would she? It was optimal for both of them. Totally designed that way for both of them from day one.

So, he made his way to their usual meet-up point, sending up a prayer that maybe, just maybe, she'd be there. Against all odds, he hoped she'd be there. He pushed aside his lack of a plan, course of action, and lack of words, in place of hoping initiative would help him scale this impossible task he had ahead of himself.

He dashed across the rooftops, until he found their normal meet-up.

And there she was.

Stood there, looking out across the city, there was Ladybug. Chat Noir couldn't decide if his powers of bad luck were in effect here, or if, for once, he had been blessed with good fortune. Not that it mattered so much, because she was right there. So now, he had to put his plan into motion.

He landed on the same roof as her, and called out her name. "Marinette."

The red figure turned with a start, surprise covering her face first of all, and then, was followed by anger. "I thought I told you to stay away from me."

"If that's what you really want, I'll stay away from you, but only when you're actually you, Marinette." Chat found it difficult to find his voice. He was confronting the person he loved more than anyone or anything in the world. How could he have suspected that this would be in any way, shape, or form, be easy? "This isn't you. You're still being manipulated by Spite's after-powers."

"Is that your ego talking?" Ladybug asked, scowling, and reaching for her yo-yo. "The pretty girl doesn't like the alley cat, so you got the idea in your head that it's because she's cursed, because god forbid, someone doesn't like the alley cat."

"That's not..." He knew fighting with her was pointless, since she wasn't able to think for herself right now. "I'm trying to help you, Marinette. I don't want a fight."

"What if I do?" She pulled on the cord of her magical item, causing the thin string to become stiff and rigid in her hands, like a garrote wire. "What if I've been wanting to fight you for years now?" The way she spoke, it sounded like she really had been itching for an opportunity to fight Chat. Like she wasn't being influenced. Chat had to remind himself...

"You haven't."

"Well, I do now!" Ladybug yelled, and threw her weapon at the black cat-hero.

Chat quickly drew his staff, and batted the yo-yo aside. He gritted his teeth, and steeled himself. He'd known it would come to this. He'd know he wouldn't be able to convince her. He'd known this was an in vain attempt to spare themselves a fight.

And now, he knew he had to fight her.

But he was in no way ready to.

* * *

 **Man, college has been eating my free time the holy hell up, Jesus '-' Due to that, I wouldn't expect me to keep up two Miraculous works for long, since I wanna try some other stuff, like My Hero Academia. Soul Link will be coming to a close shortly, but not after I've finished everything I wanted to with this project. Afterwards, a lot of my Miraculous focus will be on my Superpowers AU, since I have that thing planned to holy hell, and have so many OC's, powers, and story arcs I want to go through with that bloody thing.**

 **I've a lot of things I wanna do, including drawing and creating stuff for YouTube and the likes, and Soul Link ran its course a while ago. Now I'm adding to it for the sake of adding to it, and that's not how I like to do things. Once I reach a point where I've used up all my plans, and stop getting giddy about writing, that's normally when I call it quits. So, I'll be ending this story once I reach a point I'm happy with it's ending ^_^**

 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and if you did, be sure to follow my for more stories!**

 **Be sure to follow my Wattpad, GamingEmpire, for earlier updates and more interactivity from me ^_^**

 **You can also follow My YouTube, TheGamingEmpire for games, anime, and a planned review of Miraculous Ladybug!**

 **You can also follow my Tumblr, GamingEmpire, for blogs, artwork, sneak peaks, and more!**

 **Links to everything are in the profile as always, and I will see you in the next chapter of whatever it is I do indeed decide to write next. See ya!**


	31. Ladybug Versus Chat Noir

Ladybug watched the city-scape for she didn't know how long. An hour? Two hours? Three? It didn't really matter one way or the other. Her thoughts had her totally occupied, about Chat. About the Miraculouses. About Spite. About... Everything.

She knew it was all true. She knew it. Chat Noir had never lied to her before, and he wouldn't make up something so convoluted just to trick her. She knew him far better than that, and she knew for a fact, he was an amazingly honest person.

But when she had tried to tell him that... She wasn't herself. It was like she wasn't Marinette anymore. Like seeing him was... Like flipping a switch that made her a different parson altogether. Someone filled with hatred... Filled with contempt for Chat Noir... For Adrien.

Yes, she knew who Chat Noir was behind that mask... Whatever she become whenever she saw him. She couldn't even begin to explain it, but she had never felt more alone in her entire life. It was like... Like someone else was driving a car, and she was the passenger, she thought was the best way to describe it. She could scream, she could protest, she could try to wrestle control back... But she never could. Not even Tikki was able to figure out that she was like a prisoner inside her own body, even when merged.

She missed Chat... She missed Adrien... Those horrible things she had said to him... They hadn't even been words she had wanted to say... Words she never would have dreamed of saying. Not to Adrien. Not to him. Not after everything they had gone through to get to where they were... She would have cried were her body really hers to command. Stood here like this, she thought about all those horrible things she had said... And how much she desperately wanted to take them back.

"Marinette."

Hearing that voice, that familiar voice... Her body turned, though not really part of her own will, but she would have turned anyway. When she saw Chat Noir, that feeling in her heart, that aching and love for him was right there, and were she able to, she would have run up to him, hugged him as tightly as she could have done, and repeated she is so, so, so freaking sorry for everything she had said, even though it wasn't her fault.

"I thought I told you to stay away from me."

' _Nooo_...' She internally cried at the words that weren't her own. That was the last thing she wanted...

"If that's what you really want, I'll stay away from you, but only when you're actually you, Marinette."

For the first time in the last few days... Marinette felt a real sense of hope. Had Chat figured out what was happening to her? That he knew?

"Is that your ego talking? The pretty girl doesn't like the alley cat, so you got the idea in your head that it's because she's cursed, because god forbid, someone doesn't like the alley cat."

"That's not... I'm trying to help you, Marinette. I don't want a fight."

"What if I do?"

 _'No, I don't!'_

"What if I've been wanting to fight you for years now?"

She'd never wanted to fight Chat... Even before she knew he was Adrien, he had been her friend. Never - Never - Had she wanted to ever fight Chat Noir.

"You haven't."

"Well, I do now!" Her body moved on its own, moving the strike the cat-themed Hero, with serious deadly intent.

' _Chat_!'

Backflipping off the roof, across the street, and onto another roof, Chat Noir managed to dodge the swing of Ladybug's yo-yo, aimed for his jugular vein. He didn't want to think about what would happen to him should that manage to catch him. He could only imagine it would be less than fun.

He knew that she really was trying to kill him now. He'd had the tiniest bit of hope, but no, she was coming at him with murderous intent. He didn't have a choice left. He had to fight her like he meant it.

Skidding backwards on the roof of the next building, he reached extended his baton, and firmly gripped hold of it with his right hand. Across the street from him stood his love, spinning her weapon at light-quick speeds. It quickly expanded, and suddenly Chat found himself having to duck, dodge and weave incoming high-speed attacks coming in from both sides. He remembered that she mentioned her yo-yo's string would grow as long as she willed it, meaning it was far, far more effective at medium-to-long ranges. Chat gritted his teeth. He'd jumped back without thinking, leaving himself at the worst possible position and range for Ladybug to attack him. Using his own close-range combat piece of equipment, he defended himself against each attack with speed and impressive reflexes, though his heart wasn't in his movements at all. He lacked the strength, the discipline, the commitment to each of these attacks. He knew he'd have to get in close to actually stand a chance against his better half, but he wanted to avoid hurting her at all costs. But he knew it was impossible... The internal conflict weakened his body, but steeled his resolve to save her.

He took a running jump across the gap between the building, his weapon raised above his head, ready to strike. He swung it down, Ladybug jumping backwards just before it made contact with her, leaving a centimeter for her to work with. She quickly jumped forwards, and threw a roundhouse kick to the head with impressive power behind it despite her having to raise her leg s good half-head above the rest of her body.

Bringing in both his arms to firmly defend his head, Chat was able to block the attack, but the force went through his body when the impact came hit him like a ton of bricks, giving him a headache. He forced himself to shake it off, before yelling through gritted teeth, "Marinette, I know you're in there! I need you to fight whatever this is!"

'You think I haven't been trying, you stupid cat?!' Marinette internally yelled, but she knew he was right. Then again, she couldn't do anything. She just couldn't. She was trying, she was trying as hard as she could, but whatever this was, it had its guard up twenty four hours a day.

"Why don't you just shut up!" Ladybug yelled, slamming a first into the side of Chat's face, the force pushing him backwards.

Regaining his footing, Chat saw something he'd never thought he'd see.

A dark, purple mist around Ladybug's body, enveloping her. Like that of an Akumatized victim. While Chat's heart almost stopped for a brief second, there was something he noticed - This was a light purple, not the normal dark purple that encased any other victims. Not only that, there was little to no sign of that typical butterfly purple outline that seemed to be how Hawkmoth would see who his servants were attacking...

Was this... Some sort of half Akumatization? Had Spite's actions managed to have somehow transferred a part of his infection to Marinette?

Had that been the plan? To corrupt the link, to allow one half of the Parisian duo to become influenced by him, despite doing nothing about it himself? Had he... Planned all this?

"Marinette..." Chat whispered to himself, silently sending a prayer that she was doing okay. He didn't even want to imagine what sort of hell being Akumatized was, never mind what this must be like.

"Stop calling me that!" Ladybug yelled, throwing her yo-yo, this time, targeting the center of his skull. Try as Marinette might, she couldn't stop herself from doing it. It was like going against an elephant in a game of tug of war. She tried the best she could, but there was nothing she could do, not even anything she could say.

While Chat managed to block this attack, the cord managed to wrap itself around his silver weapon, and yanked it right out of his hands. Defenseless, Chat backed away, attempting to find some way to get around, his teeth gritted in his frustration at not being able to do anything.

"Oh, no you don't!" Before he could even finish registering the words, Chat suddenly found himself smacked around the back of the bead with both his own baton, and Ladybug's yo-yo, still wrapped around his weapon, swinging it around along with it.

Suddenly falling, Chat found himself clinging to the side of the closest building, hoping to slow himself down, or catch a ledge or something to stop him from ending up a pool of red liquid on the streets below. He was fortunate enough to manage to slow down his gravitational energy, but he still landed badly, falling flat on his back when he eventually collided with the ground. Civilians looked at him with surprise and confusion, unaware of the battle going on around them.

Chat dashed onto his feet quickly, managing to avoid the incoming attack by Ladybug, which would have been a direct stomp to the throat. She quickly bounced back, launching another kick from the same leg, which Chat managed to dodge also, along with the next swing of her yo-yo-staff combination.

"Sorry, LB." Chat apologized, so full of genuine sorrow, before launching a strike underneath her rib-cage. Weakened, Chat then lunged for Ladybug's hand, ripping the girl's weapon from her hand, and unraveling his own signature baton, reclaiming his trusted equipment.

One thing he had to give to Ladybug, was she got over injuries freaking quickly. No sooner had she recovered than she was launching a flurry of punches and kicks at him, taking full advantage of her impressive flexibility. Such was it that Chat was having a hard time dodging, even taking a few hits that he could normally have avoided with ease. He threw a few punched of his own, but they didn't seem to do anything, or maybe that was because Chat was holding back so he didn't hurt her. Whatever the reason, he wasn't doing well.

A kick sent him, head first, into the side of a nearby car. He barely had time to react to the attack before he found himself rolling to the side to avoid getting tangled up in Ladybug's yo-yo. During this brief moment of escape he could see the downright confusion and fear in the average bystander around them and he couldn't blame them either. Not only was this a brutal fight, it was between two of the cities beloved defenders. What on earth were the civilians supposed to think? Chat was just glad the Miraculouses nullified any pain that they suffered from during combat.

And then he mentally slapped himself stupid for forgetting that little fact.

Marinette wasn't feeling any pain either! So, there wasn't really a reason for him to be holding back.

"Urgh... Damn it, this feels unethical." He muttered to himself quietly, before remembering, this was to help her. In this particular situation, that made this all feel even more unethical, but damn it, he didn't have the choice to be picky anymore! "Sorry, Mari."

After his quiet apology, Chat managed to duck underneath a left hook thrown his way, and retaliated with a startlingly strong uppercut to her jaw, which seemed to catch her off guard, and he could hear the gasps from the public behind him. He spun around rapidly, launching a hook kick to her side, before quickly using his baton, extending it, and slamming the girl into the side of the nearby building.

She didn't have any issues breaking free though, managing to knock aside the metallic pole pinning her to the building with lots of ease. Tossing her yo-yo, and grappling onto something in some undisclosed location, Ladybug began to swing away as fast as she could, trying to get away from Chat long enough to plot a retaliation strategy.

"Not this time!" Chat yelled, leaping after the possessed super-heroine like a cheetah, determined to capture her and free her. He was able to grab hold of her, and within a second, found him and her high above the city, and falling quickly.

"Damn it cat!" Ladybug yelled, kicking him away, and then throwing her yo-yo towards him. In spite of valiant efforts, Chat found himself enwrapped within the cord of the magical weapon, unable to move, or break free.

He gritted his teeth, trying to get out of the hold of the weapon in any way that he could. He squirmed, he struggled, he attempted to use Cataclysm, all to no avail whatsoever. The cord was from a miraculous item, it would take a hell of a lot more than what Chat could muster out to break it.

He'd lost.

Ladybug had a smooth and successful landing. Chat certainly didn't. He body was tossed and slammed into the ground like a rag-doll, the roof's uneven and rocky surface not at all helping his current discomfort. He had to do something! He couldn't let this end like this!

Beep beep beep beep beep...

Caught unaware, and temporarily blinded, Chat de-transformed. Shock swiftly followed. He'd only just used Cataclysm! Had he been low on time anyway? Adrien had to stifle a groan. Along with his miraculous transformation, so went his immunity to pain. Adrien was basically helpless. He couldn't even squirm anymore, the cord dug into his arms far too deep to allow it.

A sinister smile came into Ladybug's lips, putting one foot in front of the other slowly, taking her time to reach the currently captive Agreste model. While Marinette screamed for Adrien to somehow escape from the inside, the body of the girl was anything but concerned for Adrien's fate.

"Great work, Adrien Agreste." The possessed girl snickered. She grabbed him by his collar, and brought her face close to his. She gave an ugly sneer. Adrien hadn't even been sure if it was possible to make Marinette's face look anything less than perfect, yet here it was. Gloating, she asked, "So, Chat, what's the plan now?"

' _Stop it!'_

Adrien couldn't do anything anymore, tied up like this, his body responding to the tight grip, forcing him to react how Ladybug wanted him to. He couldn't even force himself to glare back Ladybug.

This was how it ended?

She was going to take his miraculous, and take it back to Hawkmoth? Was this how this ended?

Was there nothing he could do?

Well... He had _one_ idea. One very stupid, stupid, fairy tale reliant plan. What were the serious chances of this working, quite honestly? Then again...

What else could he do?

"This." Adrien responded quietly, steeling his nerve, and fully prepared to get thrown off the side of the building for doing this.

Closing the gap between them, he kissed Ladybug, with as much love and passion he could possibly fit in to one clash of the lips.

For the duration of the kiss, Ladybug's eyes were wide open, whereas Adrien's were closed. For the longest time, she felt a compulsive urge to straight up kill Adrien, preparing to throw him off the roof and letting him splatter on the pavement.

But after a few seconds, she returned the kiss, and now Adrien's eyes shot wide open.

Once they separated, they stared at one another for what felt like an eternity, whereas in reality, it was maybe five seconds, if that. The cord enwrapping Adrien suddenly just fell down around him, releasing him from his horrid constricting imprisonment, bruises staining his arms, but that didn't matter. A second later, Ladybug de-transformed, and before Adrien stood Marinette, looking right back at him, with the same expression he was wearing on her face. Shock. Surprise. Amazement... And hope.

"Marinette?..." Was this her? Was this really her? Marinette?

She didn't respond to him. Not verbally.

She just hugged him, and cried.

So, what had happened?

They never really got a full explanation, but they came to agree upon a theory - That the possession persona, whatever it had been, had been caught totally off guard by Adrien's kiss, allowing Marinette to retake her body. It was a simple explanation, but the two of them didn't really need anything more than that.

That, and each other, that was.

* * *

 **Cliche, I know, but it was suggested by a few of you guys, and I'll be honest, I didn't have a better way of her overcoming this. This is sort of based on how I imagine being possessed would go - See Chat Noir in Dark Cupid, and Midoriya Versus Shinsou in My Hero Academia. Combine those two, and that's sort of what I was going for. VERY difficult to write, far easier to be represented in a manga, I feel, so if this was crap, sorry ^_^'.**

 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and if you did, be sure to follow my for more stories!**

 **Be sure to follow my Wattpad, GamingEmpire, for earlier updates and more interactivity from me ^_^**

 **You can also follow My YouTube, TheGamingEmpire for games, anime, and a planned review of Miraculous Ladybug!**

 **You can also follow my Tumblr, GamingEmpire, for blogs, artwork, sneak peaks, and more!**

 **Links to everything are in the profile as always, and I will see you in the next chapter of whatever it is I do indeed decide to write next. See ya!**


	32. Return To Reality

A few days had passed since Adrien had been able to turn Marinette back into her normal self. It had essentially become a challenge for Adrien as to what he was going to do next to convey just how much he cared for the amateur designer. He'd said it before, but he hadn't even come close to being able to share how he felt about her before she was ripped away from him by an unseen force. In that vein, he had really gone the extra mile to showing Marinette he cared.

One of the list of things he had done for her was taking her to see a movie. It wasn't a massively extravagant thing, but it didn't exactly have to be. It was a series of small things. He intended to ask her something a hell of a lot more ground-breaking a bit later on.

Small things like walking her to school whenever he could manage to slip away from Gorilla before he was forced into that limousine his father always insisted on. Walking her back, whenever he could get away with it, which he'd done his best to clear up with his father. He'd managed to secure the right to do that at least two times a week - It wasn't as much as he would have liked, but it was something.

He went that extra bit further by doing the smallest things no one would expect or ask of him. When the colder days started to come into the city, he kept a set of heat packs on him, offering her one if she seemed to be getting cold. He never used them himself, instead focusing on making sure that she was comfortable.

Their newfound closeness hadn't gone unnoticed by the people in their class, Alya being the first to immediately question what the heck was going on. After days of her downright disgust and distrust of Adrien, to now turn around and find out how close they were now, she was starting to suspect her friend of being seriously schizophrenic. Although this was another one of her normal over the top assumptions, the two of them could see where she was coming from on this one, and had done their best to calm her mind. It hadn't been an easy task to do, but they had managed it somehow. The beat they could come up with was it being a belated April's fool's joke. Either she was seriously a lot less intelligent than expected, (Very, very, very unlikely), or she was just deciding not to press them for answers, at least not just yet, but it seemed to work. And after that, Alya had been squealing so much she threatened to shatter all the glass windows. Nino had noticed next, and then it was like a set of dominoes as to who noticed next, though they all tried to keep it from Chloe... It hadn't worked so well on that front though. But when she started throwing her usual abuse at the blue haired girl, although she was more than capable of deflecting it herself, Adrien had defended her wholeheartedly.

It was starting to make Marinette feel guilty.

Especially after everything she had done to him.

She hadn't even gotten the chance to apologize yet. He'd told her time and time again that there wasn't a reason for her to, that he knew it wasn't her fault, but that didn't do anything to calm Marinette's conscious. She was Ladybug. She had to take responsibility when she messed up.

And boy, had she messed up.

The media had worked itself into an absolute frenzy following the fight Ladybug and Chat Noir had had. Headlines and stories had been coming out, days after the actual fight, with heavily over-exaggerated and wordy reports about the death of the city duo, willfully blind to the fact that they had been seen together again by various sources claiming they hadn't been trying to kill each other days later. It had sparked the birth of a nasty set of rumors surrounding them.

How couldn't Adrien blame her for this? It was seriously beyond her. How couldn't he blame her? It was her fault, after all.

"Hey, Marinette, you alright?" He asked, nudging her with his elbow lightly.

The two of them were taking the long way around to Marinette's house, crossing The Seine when Adrien asked her to snap out of her daydream.

"I - I'm Marinette!" She yelled out loud, suddenly snapping back into reality.

"Yes, you are." Adrien chuckled, having to hold back an outright smirk at her awkward outburst. He'd become accustomed to her being about as socially aware as a brick in a dishwasher. It didn't bother him because he was worse than that at times. To keep the analogy going, he was as aware as a tumble-dryer kicked into The Seine. He'd made a total idiot of himself at times, so her small outbursts didn't bother or upset him in any way. Quite the opposite, in fact, he found them adorable.

Marinette blushed, realizing her mistake, catching a few people around them glancing at her like she'd just grown a third leg and a tail. "S-Sorry." She apologized to her boyfriend without being able to look at him, unable to take any further embarrassment.

"Don't worry about it." He reassured her, placing a hand on her shoulder to comfort her.

Able to steal a glance at him now, she was calmed by seeing his soft smile aimed at her. The way his eyelids seemed to cover half of his green eye color, he almost looked like he was posing for a photo-shoot, as if out of habit. The awkwardness he displayed always made her feel better about her own. "Wh - What were you saying?"

"I said that my father wanted me to invite you over sometime." Her eyes shot wide open at that comment. Adrien shot his glance elsewhere, nervous with just asking. "He - He said he wants to meet you a-and I didn't really get the - the chance... Since... You know." He didn't like bringing it up. He seemed to prefer to forget that it had ever happened in the first place... Something Marinette wished she could do. Adrien didn't even refer to the incident by name. He just insinuated what he was referring to.

"...Why don't you like talking about it?" Marinette asked, looking solemnly at the ground. Part of her felt guilty for bringing it up, but it was a conversation they needed to have.

"Come - Come again?"

"Me being possessed." She saw Adrien visually shiver when he said it. "...Why haven't we talked about it?"

The model sighed. While he would have liked to avoid it altogether, he knew that he'd have to talk to her about it someday. "...I don't like remembering it, that's all."

"I don't either, kitty." Marinette nudged him with her elbow, a bit harder than what was needed. "I was the one who was actually possessed, remember?" There was sarcasm in her voice coupled with the question.

"I know..." Adrien responded weakly, not bothering to really acknowledge her elbow. In response, she prodded him again, this time underneath his rib-cage, which got his attention. Pushed, he sighed again, and answered. "I... Feel bad about it."

"About what?"

"Letting you down. Not stopping it from happening... Hitting you." His teeth showed as he bit on his lower lip. "I feel awful about that whole thing..."

"You shoulda seen him, Marinette." Plagg's voice shattered the quiet moment between them, and his head peaked out from Adrien's jacket pocket, now lacking the Camembert to placate him, he was now more than happy to join in the conversation. "All the kid did was cry for three days. It got really annoying."

Rapidly embarrassed by his Kwami running his mouth too much, Adrien pinched the black creature, and a bit too loudly for his own liking, hissed, "I can ask the chefs to stop getting you that cheese anytime, Plagg!"

"And this is why you're terrible at debates." Plagg commented with a sly smirk. "You don't like hearing facts."

Face growing redder and hotter, Adrien did his very best to silence the over-talkative Kwami with threats and, when that failed, bribes. The entire situation served to do nothing but amuse Marinette to no end, and she found herself having to stifle a load of laughter from the sheer comedic display. It helped break the awkward and depressing tones of their current conversation, at least it did for her. "Is that all true, Adrien?"

He turned to face her, and ended up shooting his glance literally in every other direction possible, looking for a means of escaping this current situation. "Uh, I, uh, um, uh..." How the heck had this situation come around again? "Move - Moving on!"

'He did.' Marinette thought to herself. For some reason, it made her feel happy to know that he cared to that extent. Along with a pang of guilt she'd caused him so much worry. "I'm sorry I caused you so much worry."

"I - It! It - It... Don't worry about it, Mari." Adrien stammered out, regaining what little of his composure remained. "It's - It wasn't your fault, I know that. So don't blame yourself, okay?"

"...Okay." She nodded, not wanting to spend more time in the subject, since it was clear that he wasn't going to blame her. In a way, that made her feel worse, but she appreciated it all the same. It was a confusing combination of emotions.

"A-Anyways, going back to my question..." Adrien gulped. He wasn't sure why. He'd already asked the question, hadn't he, so what was the reason he was feeling nervous for now? "D-Do you um... Wanna come over for dinner and meet my f-father?"

It was a rather large question to be asking, especially for someone like Adrien. While it could be argued that the question was always a big question for anyone in a relationship, when it came to Adrien, that simply wasn't true. His father was the most respected fashion designer in all of Paris, one of the people Marinette admired the most! Though she knew what he was like a bit more than she did, thanks to her talks with Adrien, that didn't change the fact that she had based most of her fashion career on her desires to be like Gabriel Agreste! With Marinette however, she would be forced to act differently to how she normally would have. While she wouldn't be raving at the mouth, she would normally, absolutely, talk the opportunity to pick at Gabriel's mind, get his advice, and ask him questions. That option wasn't available to her anymore, at least not for the duration of this particular event. She was Adrien's girlfriend, and the last thing she wanted was to embarrass him. It was like asking someone to have a casual dinner with one of their favorite actors or singers and asking them not to throw themselves into a fan-based frenzy.

Despite all this, and a blush that burned her cheeks, she nodded instantly. "I-I'd l-love to."

* * *

...It was a choice that she regretted almost immediately after making it. She hadn't thought about it for even a second, and suddenly came to the conclusion that she was going to screw this up so supremely that even Adrien would end up being completely embarrassed by her and refuse to see her and -

"I can see you panicking Marinette. Relax."

She hadn't even really moved, and Alya could see through that brave face instantly. Marinette was convinced her friend had some sort of psychic powers or something, because she seemed able to tell when she was panicking or stressed before she herself even knew it. Either she had the biggest tell on the planet for when she was dealing with inner turmoil, or her friend was the most perceptive person there was. Neither one was a particularly good thing for Marinette, since Alya, of all people, was the most likely to figure out the double life the blunette girl led.

Still, in this moment, Alya was like a guardian angel. A saving grace. A wish upon a star come true, whatever you wanted to call it. One quick phone call to her, and the blogger was right over at Marinette's house, helping her figure out what the heck she was going to do, what she was going to wear, and above all, what the heck she was going to say to Gabriel Agreste.

"It's not exactly easy to relax, Alya! I'm freaking out!" Marinette shot back, grabbing a clump of her dark hair and tugging on it, a nervous quirk.

"Don't tug your hair, girl, it's gonna be harder to tidy up." Alya sighed in an amused manner, and adjusting her glasses on the bridge of her nose. "You know, I still have no idea what caused these leaps you and Adrien have been having this past week. Wanna clear this all up for me? I need deets girl!"

"I - I told you already! It - It was all a joke! L-Late April fools!"

"It's October."

"That's - That's why it's a late April fools!"

"You really are a strange case to crack." Alya sighed, this time out of frustration, knowing she wasn't going to get any information out of her, no matter how hard she tried. Normally she'd press for more information, but...

"Can - Can we please focus on the current situation?!"

...Marinette clearly wasn't in a state to be answering questions.

"You're lucky I'm so nice." Alya smirked, now standing upright and placing her hands in her hips. "Okay, calm down. Let's figure out what you're gonna wear first. Did Mister Magnificent Model mention what kind of thing you should wear? Like formal or what?"

Thought she cringed at Alya's nickname to her boyfriend, Marinette showed her her phone. On it was a short exchange of texts between her and Adrien, one that Marinette had instigated, asking a number of questions. The list was so long at the part Alya was seeing, Adrien had even called her paranoid, which didn't fail to make her chuckle. "He said smart casual! What the heck classes as smart casual?!"

"Casual clothes that you wear smartly?" Alya suggested with a raised eyebrow. In reality, she had no idea what the term even meant. Marinette probably had the better idea. "You're the fashionista here, not me."

"Okay Marinette, calm yourself." Marinette took to taking in deep breaths, and bringing her hands together to help her in her sort-of meditation. "Calm yourself... Calm..."

"...How's that working for ya?"

"It's not working!"

Alya sighed once more. How her friend even managed to work herself into these panicked frenzies, she had no idea.

* * *

 **This story shall be ending in a few more chapters to focus on my upcoming My Hero Academia story/Writing exercise (THE NERD IS HAPPENING) and my Superpowers/Traits AU. Soul Link ran its course, and I'm happy with how it went, but I don't want to kill this story. There's maybe a chapter or two left in this story, and I'll do my best to make them as great as possible for you ^_^**

 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and if you did, be sure to follow my for more stories!**

 **Be sure to follow my Wattpad, GamingEmpire, for earlier updates and more interactivity from me ^_^**

 **You can also follow My YouTube, TheGamingEmpire for games, anime, and a planned review of Miraculous Ladybug!**

 **You can also follow my Tumblr, GamingEmpire, for blogs, artwork, sneak peaks, and more!**

 **Links to everything are in the profile as always, and I will see you in the next chapter of whatever it is I do indeed decide to write next. See ya!**


	33. Date Prep Two

Marinette had to consider herself fortunate that someone like Alya existed in this world, and that she was best friends with such an amazing person. She didn't have any sort of problems when it came to keeping a level head in stressful situations. Where Marinette was sweating buckets at the prospect of meeting the fashion designer she admired and respected most, but not as a fan of his work, but as the girl his son was bringing home to meet his father. Just thinking about that being the real prospect here made Marinette shiver in anticipation.

The first thing that Alya had helped her in doing was getting her to a frame of mind that she could compose herself in. Despite the clear exasperation that she emitted, Alya was patient and understanding of her friend's plight. She seemed to find some amusement, at least, in Marinette's frantic paranoia.

It was heavily justified though. A lot more than Alya even realised. Even if she knew about the total disconnect Marinette had gone through from the rest of the world, the fact of the matter was, if this went especially poorly... Would it affect the partnership between her and Chat Noir? Marinette couldn't see Adrien being that sort of person, and mentally punched herself for even considering that idea... But again, her frantic paranoia was in control right now. Only once she was sufficiently calmed did her brainwaves cease to think this way.

In terms of clothing, the blue haired fashion designer knew what smart casual meant, of course, when she wasn't panicking. It was sort of the exact opposite of what Alya had suggested, smart clothing worn casually. It helped keep up that feeling of formality, while at the same time, allowed some extent of self expression. Since Gabriel was a fashion designer, he had probably suggested this choice intentionally, to help gauge an idea of the sort of person she was just from looking at her clothes, as an underhanded trick.

Pulling her phone from her back pocket and searching up a few examples, Alya helped with picking out some of Marinette's most formal clothes, most of which she had designed herself, from scratch. The blogger had persisted on Marinette going in blue, saying it went with both her hair and eyes. While Marinette wanted to mention that she had worn that colour on the first date she had gone on with Adrien, she reminded herself at the last moment that since Spite had done his Link altering, she didn't remember that. Far as Alya was concerned, this was the first time she had helped her friend in this situation. It was for that reason that Marinette agreed with most of her assessments. Hopefully, Adrien would understand. She'd explain it to him once she saw him.

The outfit she ended up with was a long, dark navy-blue skirt that went down to cover her knees before the cut off point. Neatly ironed and pressed, she also wore a regular white shirt, akin to the one she typically wore at school, except this one was totally plain. Finishing off her outfit, was a dark coloured crop jacket, similar to, again, the one she wore at school, except this one had long sleeves, and was the same shade of blue as the skirt she was wearing. There was so much blue on her,

Marinette wondered if she would be able to blend in with the sky if it fell the same shade her clothes and hair were. She had to give it to Alya, under stress, she was a lot better at selecting clothes than she was, and considering her talent for fashion, that spoke volumes.

Doing a twirl to see her outfit from all angles, Marinette came back from the whole dress up rather satisfied. Instead of being kept in buns, or curled, her hair was just allowed to freely flow around her, reaching her shoulders. Brushed to an almost obsessive degree, it was far from unkempt, running silkily across her skin where it met it. Coupled with her outfit, it was probably as, quote, smart casual as she was going to get. All there really was left to do was wait for Adrien.

"Lookin' good, M." Alya said, positioning her index finger and thumb on both her hands, and standing back, using her digits to frame Marinette like she was taking a photograph. "Yep, you look killer. If Adrien isn't drooling over you on the ride to his place, then there's something wrong with him."

Chuckling good heartedly, Marinette nodded, and sat down in her bed, twiddling with her fingers, and looking at herself in the mirror to her side. Would this be enough to sufficiently make a good first impression on Gabriel Agreste?

She knew in the back of her head that she was panicking over next to nothing, if she knew anything about Adrien at this point, it wasn't that he was going to be so submissive as to follow his father's commands if he decided he didn't like her. But even so... It would be nice to know that his father approved of her. It was the same for anyone meeting their other half's parents for the first time, she knew. That or all those romantic comedies were lying. It wasn't like she had anything else to go off of! They were made by real people based on their experiences, right? All she needed to do was not make a total idiot out of herself, and she'd be fine.

"You're nervous." Alya commented, prompting the overthinking girl to snap her head up to face her best friend. "Stop giving it too much thought. You're stressing yourself out."

"I'm not trying to." Marinette defended, albeit rather half heartedly.

"Girl, I don't know a single person who doesn't love you... Except Chloe, obviously."

A small giggle escaped from Marinette as she gave her best friend a sassy response. "So now I'm thinking about Chloe when I'm about to go out with Adrien. Thanks, Alya!"

"Besides the point." The blogger dismissed, wafting her hand in front of her face as if she were literally sliding the point to the side. She then quickly began typing something in on her phone, for what, Marinette wasn't sure. "He's gonna love you, stop worrying."

The compliments and reassurances did help to ease her nerves, if only a little bit. She let out a small sigh to help relieve some of the tension stored up in her chest.

After that, she heard her phone give off a small buzz, and sent out the quick, sharp notification sound that triggered whenever she received a message. Without really thinking about it, she automatically picked up the phone and swiped the screen to the side to unlock the device so she could view her messages.

Seeing the message was from Adrien made her face heat up, and made her forget everything that she had just been told by Alya. The text read, 'Don't be nervous. Father is strict but he isn't unfair with people. He'll like you, I'm sure. I'll be there in about ten.'

"...You sent him a message, didn't you?" Marinette accused her friend, whom was hiding a knowing smile, and looking rather proud of herself.

"Maybe."

* * *

Adrien was reminded of a number of fairy tales in which a prince would arrive and whisk his princess away in a carriage, or a ship, or any other means of transportation. Turned out in the modern day, that was a limousine.

Honestly, it felt sort of over the top to him. Why couldn't he have just gone around and brought her back via method of walking? It sure as hell would have drawn less attention to them. This had occurred of his father's insistence, and Adrien had thought that it would probably be best not to upset him before Marinette even showed up. So, even though they'd now stand out like a surplus tank on a highway, Adrien was going to pick her up in the limo. Gorilla was totally silent, as per usual, although the blond model could have sworn his chauffeur was glancing at him every so often with what could almost be called pride.

Shy as his girlfriend was, Adrien hadn't been surprised by the message he had received from Alya, nor was he surprised Marinette had called her in the aid her preparation. She'd done the same thing for their first date, the only difference being that Alya didn't remember that thanks to Spite's effects.

Even when he was long gone and de-evilized, Spite's presence still lingered around Paris. It would take years until he was fully gone. Relationships would have to be restored from a breaking point, events passed would have to be reiterated, and confusion would take time to subside. The road to recovery hadn't been too painful at least. Not for every other person excluding Adrien and Marinette, anyway.

He'd done what little he could to reassure her of his father's approval, but in truth, he knew about as much as she did whether or not his father would actually like her. He knew that his father knew he couldn't stop him from seeing her - If he could, he would have already done so, Adrien was 80% certain - But he also knew how much it would mean to Marinette to get that approval from someone she truly admired. He totally understood that feeling.

For his outfit for the night's event, he wore what could be considered a suit, given to him by Nathalie on order of his father. The man was obsessed with presentation and perfection, in all things. In spite of this, Adrien had totally abandoned the tie entirely. It was a smart casual thing, after all, he could completely forget about that if he wanted to. The white shirt he was given was visible, the buttons on the black over-jacket left undone. He was still a lot more formal than any other person would be to a meeting with family, but then again, the majority of other people didn't have a control obsessed fashion designer for a father.

He'd arrived at Marinette's house a hell of a lot quicker than he'd honestly expected to. He could see a few people staring at the car from what little he could see from the rear - view mirror, causing him to blush in embarrassment. He wasn't particularly one for drawing attention to himself - Not as Adrien, anyway. As Chat Noir, he'd do it out of sheer boredom, when there weren't any consequences that needed to be faced.

He took a sharp breath, with an equally sharp exhale, and forced himself out of the car. He tried his hardest not to look at anything else other than the door he needed to reach, knock on, and pray to God that Marinette was the one who answered. He liked her parents well enough, but he was already at his limits for his nerves as it was. He took the few shaky steps that he needed to to reach the bakeries front door, accessorised with a 'closed' sign, hanging in the view of the glass windows, and enhanced by the light from the other room.

With a rigid finger extended, he pressed the doorbell.

The good news - It was Marinette who answered the door.

The bad news - His jaw dropped at the mere sight of her. Sure he'd seen her in a dress before. Sure he'd seen her with her hair let loose before. Sure, he'd seen both of them before, at the same time, but there was something about her right here, right now, that left him utterly speechless. Perhaps it was that he already knew she was nervous, and when she was nervous, she was insanely expressive, a quirk of hers he found adorable. Her expression right now was incredible, a mixture of joy and absolute shock.

"Hey, Adrien..." She spoke softly too. Like on their first date, and just as downright cutely too. A small red blush on her face... Christ, this girl was going to be the death of him.

"H-Hey, Marinette..."

Both of them took just a second to examine what the other one was wearing, which ended up resulting in a mutual smile, and small laugh between the two of them. They were both thinking the same thing - They really were overdressed for this sort of event, weren't they?

"You're quiet." Marinette commented suddenly.

"H-Huh?"

"No puns. No jokes. No quips. No ice breakers."

"Uh..."

"Aw, what's wrong, kitty? Cat got your tongue?"

"You really are gonna be the death of me." The model muttered quickly. He'd forgotten, for just a few, brief moments, that she was completely comfortable around him. "Are - Are you ready to go?" Adrien asked. "Your parents uh... Not want to see you off or anything like that?"

She shook her head. "Nope. They've already said bye, and know where we're going." Adrien sighed in relief. "So... How're we getting there?"

The blond boy gestured behind him to the lengthy vehicle waiting for them on the side of the road.

* * *

The last thing Marinette had expected was to be picked up by a limousine - A freaking limousine! - To get to Adrien's house. It was a serious shock to her system. Again, it seemed like overkill, but then again, everything about this seemed overkill. It didn't do a lot to relax her.

"You um..." Adrien hadn't spoken until now as they had been carried in silence to their destination. He had instead been drumming his fingers on his knees on repeat for the duration of the ride. It wasn't particularly often that Adrien found himself lost for words around Marinette. Normally it was the other way around, with her being the person who could hardly speak, even if she was getting better with that aspect. "You... You look good."

"Ah... Thanks." Marinette went a little red in the face. "Sorry it's similar to the last time we went out... I kinda had to rely on Alya again..." Despite her not intending for it to be, it occurred to her that she had also sent along a quiet message to Adrien regarding Alya's memory after Spite had corrupted her.

"What the heck're you talking about?" Adrien asked, sounding genuinely surprised at her diminishing of herself. "You look freaking amazing!"

That sparked a crimson blush from both of them. Adrien could have sworn he heard Gorilla stifling a laugh from up front, which didn't do much to help his self conscious state. If he'd managed to make Gorilla, out of every person on the planet chuckle, then he knew he'd really made an idiot out of himself this time. He was actually impressed at how much of a dork he sounded like in that moment.

There was a few more embarrassed short seconds of silence before Adrien spoke up once more, this time, being more careful about what words he chose to use. "Father's going to be impressed, if nothing else."

"Y-You think?"

"Yeah, but don't worry about him." Adrien told her, suddenly turning serious. Between his formal Adrien attitude, and carefree Chat Noir attitude, him being serious was an unusual sight.

"What do you mean?..."

"I mean if he approves of you or not. If he does, then that'll be fantastic. But if he doesn't... Then it doesn't change anything. He won't - He can't stop me from seeing you."

"...Thank you." The blue haired girl could just thank the blond model and smile softly at the firm and dedicated response her boyfriend had given her. Hearing those words would do wonders for her, as opposed to her simply assuming that those were Adrien's feelings on the matter. For the first time all night, she felt truly relaxed.

"Speaking of which..." Adrien muttered, angling his gaze out the window, and taking a short breath, he announced, "We're here."

* * *

 **I find it likely that the next chapter will be the final one, since I'm seriously struggling to come up with ideas. I have a nice ending planned, so you can look forward to that - No i don't care that happy endings are sappy and overdone, these little shits deserve one, damn it!**

 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and if you did, be sure to follow my for more stories!**

 **Be sure to follow my Wattpad, GamingEmpire, for earlier updates and more interactivity from me ^_^**

 **You can also follow My YouTube, TheGamingEmpire for games, anime, and a planned review of Miraculous Ladybug!**

 **You can also follow my Tumblr, GamingEmpire, for blogs, artwork, sneak peaks, and more!**

 **Links to everything are in the profile as always, and I will see you in the next chapter of whatever it is I do indeed decide to write next. See ya!**


	34. The Final Message (Final Chapter)

Marinette had met Gabriel Agreste before. That was a given. The derby hat competition was a good example of an occasion of a chance where she had gotten the rare opportunity to speak to Paris's most famous fashion designer. The main reason for her doing so had been her defending her design from Chloe's plagiarism, so she wasn't entirely certain that it counted.

She'd met him as Ladybug. Then again, she wasn't entirely certain if that counted either. Talking to someone when you're trying to save their life seems like a pretty basic stage. When faced with mortality, everyone was equal, despite every other protest from anyone else, so did it honestly count as some sort of social interaction? Not to mention, she was behind a mask at that point. When she was able to hide behind her Ladybug persona, Marinette was about five times as confident as she was normally.

Meeting someone behind a mask was very different to meeting someone without one. And honestly felt a lot more intimidating.

As least, that was how Marinette felt when she finally came face to face with Adrien's father. She'd fought Akuma's, criminals, even Chat Noir, through no choice of her own of course, but there was something about the tall, spectacle wearing designer that made her shiver up close. Could it be that it was because she had admired his work for so long, and this was like meeting a hero? Perhaps it was down to how he seemed to look down on her from the end of his nose, or because he was standing atop a large flight of stairs, while she and Adrien were right at the bottom of them. Or maybe it was because he didn't smile, and didn't look like he had in about five to eight years.

"Hello." He was sternly spoken. There was no trace of friendliness, welcoming, or as little as intrigue to his voice. He was cold. During the derby contest, he'd at least some impress with her skills as a designer. Here, there was none of that. He very nearly sounded bored.

Adrien knew Marinette and Gabriel knew one another, however little that actually was. He went through with introductions, since it was expected of him. "Uh, Father, this is Marinette. The uh, the girl I told you about."

"I can see that, Adrien." His father acknowledged matter-of-factly as he walked down the ridiculously long set of stairs that connected the first two floors. Gabriel didn't mock his son with his tone, nor did he embellish or joke. He spoke like he was stating a mere fact. While not inaccurate, Marinette couldn't help but feel his response had been blunt at best, and curt and a tad rude at worst.

While she had seen Adrien's house before, interior and exterior, she had never really acknowledged it, since each of her trips there had been brief, and normally tinted with a hint of danger. It was enormous, there wasn't any way to question or deny that. This really was the life of luxury, and it amazed her when Adrien told her how cold Gabriel was. Perhaps she had possessed this unconscious perception that anyone who could provide their child with this sort of life must have done so out of love for their child. Or maybe she just hadn't wanted to accept that her most idolised designer was the kind of person who could be like that. Yes he was serious, and strict... But...

It shocked her when she felt that same coldness coming from Gabriel right now. It made the entire foyer feel like a freezer. She couldn't feel a spot of warmth to the designers words.

The middle aged man stood on the steps just one up from Marinette, where he could look down on her better, not that he needed help in being taller than her. He seemed to scowl for a second, inspecting her and the blue clothing she wore. He himself looked like he was headed out to a business meeting with work associates, in a smart pressed grey suit. Where Adrien and Marinette were semi - formal, Gabriel was fully formal, complete with a tie, and his suit buttoned up.

"A pleasure." He extended a hand for the blue haired girl to shake. She wasn't surprised by how firm his grip was. "Adrien has spoken very highly of you."

Marinette could swear she could feel Adrien blushing from behind her.

* * *

It ended up being three solid hours of tense anxiety, for both Marinette and Adrien. For a man who showed little to no emotion, Gabriel seemed to have a talent for cold intimidation, even though it was pretty obvious this wasn't an intentional.

He was just a natural at this.

Neither of the young heroes could figure out if that made it easier or harder to feel intimidated. Adrien was used to this sort of attitude, sure, but he had rarely spent enough time around his father over the past few years to really get a feel for it.

Yet somehow, to her amazement, Marinette was managing to not make an idiot of herself, and Gabriel was acting civilised. He wasn't being dismissive, nor was he being rude. He engaged in polite conversation. He would ask Marinette a question that wasn't too outlandish or personal. Common questions, like how she and Adrien knew one another, and what sorts of things she did as hobbies. Once he learned of her passion for fashion, he inquired as to her dress. Upon learning that she had made it, he had bestowed a compliment onto her.

Marinette had seemed to want to avoid asking questions, mostly content to just answer what was thrown her way, but once the topic of fashion had been brought up, she hadn't been able to help herself asking a truck load of questions, and to her surprise, Gabriel seemed more than happy to oblige with answers as quickly as Marinette could come up with them.

Dinner itself had only lasted a single hour. The remaining two were spent in a manner more similar to that of a formal party. Sure, there were drinks, and conversation, and the occasional laugh, but it was clear everyone that was here wanted something. Information. Approval. Acceptance. They were just more polite about it.

"This has been a lovely meeting, but I'm afraid I need to attend to some work." Gabriel announced, at exactly 10PM, clearly having planned to be gone by this time. "Adrien, your chauffeur is still available to drop you both off at Marinette's house whenever you decide to leave." It wasn't too clear if that was directed at Marinette or to Adrien. "A word?" That one was definitely for Adrien.

His throat went dry, but he nodded obediently. If his throat had just gone dry, God knew what Marinette was feeling at this exact moment. He placed his hand on her shoulder to comfort her, obviously tensed up by the sudden exit Gabriel had announced. "I'll be back in a second, Mari."

She nodded. Had she done something wrong? She had thought she had been doing an okay job at not making herself seem like an idiot.

Following his father, Adrien wondered the exact same questions, albeit with a slightly tighter chest from the ball of air he was holding in. They didn't go far, just out of the room, around into the corridor, and down a couple of meters. It didn't take a genius to figure out Gabriel wanted to talk about Marinette.

"Well... You met her, father." Adrien muttered, worry in his voice fairly evident.

"Indeed I have." His father said, his hands now behind his back and standing tall, once again. This had been one of the only times in years Adrien had ever seen him relax even a bit, but now that it was the two of them again, he went straight back to being uptight and formal. Adrien sometimes wondered, did Gabriel even see him as a son, or some sort of business associate?

"Well?..." The model just wanted to get the answer out of the way. So he knew where he stood with his father. So he knew that it was pointless to try and convince him otherwise. So he knew just what kind of -

"I approve."

"Say what now?" Adrien questioned before his brain even caught up and responded to what he had just been told purely on instinct.

"The girl is smart, has some clear talents, and is very obviously confident in herself. And it would appear that your grades and modelling have not suffered at all as a result of her being a part of your life. It seems you have a better eye than expected."

Was that a compliment just now? His father had actually _complimented_ him for once?

"Of course, should those become a problem, I will take steps to prevent you from going out with her until they are back up to standard. Agreed?"

That was fair. That was _more_ than fair. That was exceptionally lenient for his father. If his grades slipped, Gabriel normally would just forbid Adrien from seeing her ever again. But his wording, ' _until they are back up to standard_ ', it indicated that his father actually cared about this. That he wanted this to work for his son... There were a lot of questions but... Not wanting to push his luck any further, Adrien nodded quickly and smiled. "Yes, father! Thank you!"

* * *

"You know something, I think my father really likes you."

To say the evening had been anything less than a success would be a complete lie, Adrien thought to himself. It couldn't have gone better. His father approved... It made everything so much less stressful between the two of them, not even beginning to mention how much of a relief it was to Adrien and Marinette.

"You think?..." Marinette asked, hopeful.

"Yep."

"Why?"

"Just a feeling." Adrien smirked to himself. He was in such a good mood right now, it couldn't even begin to be described in words.

"A feeling from where?" Marinette questioned, prying for an answer from her clearly amused boyfriend.

"Places."

"Come on, Adrien!"

"It came from somewhere, I can promise you that much."

"You... Jerk." The blue haired girl sighed, resting her head on his shoulder and smiling. She could get the information out of him some way. Maybe have Ladybug pay him a visit, and see if he felt like being a bit more loose-lipped then.

Their Kwami had left them, going God knew where at this time. Not that it mattered too much. Plagg knew the score when it came to avoiding Adrien's father, so he could keep an eye out for Tikki just as much as he could keep an eye out for himself. They just had to be especially careful, but as much as he and his cat Kwami fought, Adrien did trust Plagg.

"So... What happens now?" He asked the designer leaning on him, her eyes closed, simply just enjoying the moment that they were able to share right now.

"I guess we just... Keep doing what we've been doing."

"You mean fighting Akuma, risking our lives every other day, getting the crap beaten out of us, and live in constant stress that someday the entire city will learn about who we really are and that Hawkmoth will come jumping in through the window brandishing a scythe to beat us to death with?"

"Yeah. That. Plus dating on the side."

Adrien smirked once more, and wrapped his arm around Marinette's shoulder, his hand just brushing against the side of her neck, so it lightly tickled her. "Sounds like a fun plan."

"Doesn't it?" Marinette tilted her head ever so slightly so she could feel Adrien's hand on her skin.

This careless motion just happened to cause both the cat and ladybug Miraculouses to touch - Just for a second. And in that second, a bright light enveloped the room, which both of them immediately recognized as the messages the Miraculouses gave one another about their Soul Mates. Neither had received a message in such a long time, they had almost forgotten about this feature.

When their eyes were able to readjust, they found a brand new poem, a final poem, casted upon Adrien's wall. And upon reading it, both of them smiled. "Yeah. It does." Adrien chuckled, before he leaned in to kiss his lady to end the night.

 _'Though conflict, trials, and fights hard fought,_

 _Through fears all is done for naught,_

 _Your Links lost, and reestablished,_

 _Fears of love hath been demolished,_

 _And yet, both stand, here and now,_

 _In face of troubles of disavow._

 _A Link is but a special thing,_

 _With tears of pain that love may bring,_

 _Through it's endless stand through all of time,_

 _Throughout any hardship, or any crime,_

 _Your Soul Mate stands with you on this floor_

 _Now, and forever more.'_

* * *

 **And so ends Soul Link. 34 chapters... Really odd number to end this story on, but I'm not willing to beat a horse to death to keep this story going. So this is it guys. I'm proud of this story, and I achieved what I wanted to achieve with it ^_^ So As I move into the future, regardless of what I write, be it ending up being RWBY, My Hero Academia, Pokemon, or more Miraculous, I can look back and say that I'm pleased with the story I provided you guys with here today.**

 **Now that its over, I'd love to know what you thought about it. You guys have been amazing throughout this story, you've been so understanding, so patient, and fully supportive of what I've done with the work. The reviews I got were just the motivation that I needed to continue writing this when I began to worry about it becoming stale and started to lose the will to write any further. You guys helped make this story what it is, so thank you all so much ^_^.**

 **All Miraculous focus will now be going onto my Superpowers/Traits AU, which you should be sure to check out. OC's are accepted, and the reception, while a lot smaller, has bee incredibly awesome to and I'm enjoying every second I spend writing it. As of the time of writing, we're moving onto a training exercise, which promises to be exciting : 3 Hope to see you there maybe ^_^**

 **I hope you did enjoy the story, and I'll see you in whatever it is I do indeed decide to write next - See ya guys!**


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